THC Science

Portal topics: Activities; Culture; Geography; Health; History; Mathematics; Nature; People; Philosophy; Religion; Society; Technology; Random portal

The England portal

Flag of England	Royal Standard of England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. The country is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers roughly 62%, and over 100 smaller adjacent islands. It has land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, and is otherwise surrounded by the North Sea to the east, the English Channel to the south, the Celtic Sea to the south-west, and the Irish sea to the west. Continental Europe lies to the south-east, and Ireland to the west. The population was 56,490,048 at the 2021 census. London is both the largest city and the capital.

The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Paleolithic, but takes its name from the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in the 10th century and has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century. The Kingdom of England, which included Wales after 1535, ceased being a separate sovereign state on 1 May 1707 when the Acts of Union put the terms agreed in the Treaty of Union the previous year into effect; this resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland that created the Kingdom of Great Britain.

England is the origin of many well-known worldwide exports, including the English language, the English legal system (which served as the basis for the common law systems of many other countries), association football, and the Church of England; its parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England is home to the two oldest universities in the English-speaking world: the University of Oxford, founded in 1096, and the University of Cambridge, founded in 1209. Both universities are ranked among the most prestigious in the world.

England's terrain chiefly consists of low hills and plains, especially in the centre and south. Upland and mountainous terrain is mostly found in the north and west, including Dartmoor, the Lake District, the Pennines, and the Shropshire Hills. The country's capital is London, the greater metropolitan of which has a population of 14.2 million as of 2021, representing the United Kingdom's largest metropolitan area. England's population of 56.3 million comprises 84% of the population of the United Kingdom, largely concentrated around London, the South East, and conurbations in the Midlands, the North West, the North East, and Yorkshire, which each developed as major industrial regions during the 19th century. (Full article...)

Refresh with new selections below (purge)

Featured article - show another

This is a Featured article, which represents some of the best content on English Wikipedia..

Gilwell Park is a camp site and activity centre in East London located in the Sewardstonebury area of Waltham Abbey, within Epping Forest, near the border with Chingford. The 109-acre (44 ha) site is owned by The Scout Association, is used by Scouting and Guiding groups. As the original base of leadership training in the Scout movement, it is an important site of the worldwide Scouting movement.

In the late Middle Ages, the area was used as a farm, which grew to become to a wealthy estate that fell into disrepair around 1900. In 1919, Scout Commissioner William de Bois Maclaren bought the estate and gave it to The Scout Association to provide camping facilities for London Scouts and training for Scouters. Scout leaders from all countries of the world have visited Gilwell Park for their Wood Badge training. (Full article...)

List of Featured articles

Selected article - show another

Office for National Statistics weekly COVID-19 deaths for England and Wales up to May 2022.

The COVID-19 pandemic was first confirmed to have spread to England with two cases among Chinese nationals staying in a hotel in York on 31 January 2020. The two main public bodies responsible for health in England were NHS England and Public Health England (PHE). NHS England oversees the budget, planning, delivery and day-to-day operation of the commissioning side of the NHS in England, while PHE's mission is "to protect and improve the nation's health and to address inequalities". As of 14 September 2021, there have been 6,237,505 total cases and 117,955 deaths in England. In January 2021, it was estimated around 22% of people in England have had COVID-19.

Healthcare in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is administered by the devolved governments, but there is no devolved government for England and so healthcare is the direct responsibility of the UK Government. As a result of each country having different policies and priorities, a variety of differences now exist between these systems. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

The following are images from various England-related articles on Wikipedia.

Image 1Victory in Europe Day celebrations in London, 8 May 1945 (from History of England)
Image 2Dover Castle, 12th–13th century (from History of England)
Image 3Gold torc from Snettisham, 70 BC (from History of England)
Image 4Interior of Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford (from Culture of England)
Image 5The Spanish Armada and English ships in August 1588, (unknown, 16th-century, English School) (from History of England)
Image 6King Charles II (from History of England)
Image 7Remains of Hadrian's Wall (from History of England)
Image 8Maps of territory held by Royalists (red) and Parliamentarians (green) during the English Civil War (1642–1645) (from History of England)
Image 9Shoulder clasp from Sutton Hoo, 625 AD (from History of England)
Image 10Chester, c. 1880 (from History of England)
Image 11The wizard Merlin features as a character in many works of fiction, including the BBC series Merlin. (from Culture of England)
Image 12England in 878 (from History of England)
Image 13The Royal College of Music is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, established by royal charter in 1882. (from Culture of England)
Image 14The Alfred Jewel, late 9th century (from History of England)
Image 15King Alfred the Great statue in Winchester, Hampshire. The 9th-century English king encouraged education in his kingdom. (from Culture of England)
Image 16Canterbury Cathedral nave, 1377 (from History of England)
Image 17View of the ramparts of the hillfort of Maiden Castle (450 BC), as they look today (from History of England)
Image 18Tomb of Richard I of England and Isabella of Angoulême (from History of England)
Image 19The Great Fire London, 1666. (from History of England)
Image 20The Mob Quad of Merton College, University of Oxford, 13th–14th century (from History of England)
Image 21First played in 1877, the Wimbledon Championships is the oldest tennis tournament in the world. (from Culture of England)
Image 22Flatford Mill ('Scene on a Navigable River') by John Constable, c. 1816 (from Culture of England)
Image 23The Lindisfarne Gospels (from Culture of England)
Image 24William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century. (from Culture of England)
Image 25Kingdoms and tribes in Britain, c. AD 600 (from History of England)
Image 26Portrait of Edward VI, c. 1550 (from History of England)
Image 27The Lady Chapel of Wells Cathedral (from Culture of England)
Image 28Silbury Hill, c. 2400 BC (from History of England)
Image 29Christopher Lee (seen here as Dracula in 1958) starred in many of Hammer's British horror films. (from Culture of England)
Image 30England playing Australia at Lord's Cricket Ground in the 2009 Ashes series. After winning the 2019 Cricket World Cup, England became the first country to win the World Cups in football, rugby union and cricket. (from Culture of England)
Image 31The White Tower of the Tower of London, built in 1078 (from History of England)
Image 32Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol played a major role in reviving the "spirit" of Christmas and seasonal goodwill. (from Culture of England)
Image 33Whitehall by Francis Dodd (1920) displaying the Palace of Westminster (from Culture of England)
Image 34King's College in Cambridge is regarded as one of the greatest examples of late English Gothic architecture. It has the world's largest fan vault, while the chapel's stained-glass windows and wooden chancel screen are considered some of the finest from their era. (from Culture of England)
Image 35Edward Elgar is one of England's most celebrated classical composers. (from Culture of England)
Image 36Morris dancing (from Culture of England)
Image 37The Roman Baths in Bath; a temple was constructed on the site between 60–70CE in the first few decades of Roman Britain. (from Culture of England)
Image 38The epic poem Beowulf, set in 6th century Scandinavia, composed c. 700–1000 AD. (from History of England)
Image 39Alfred Hitchcock is often regarded as the greatest British filmmaker, and was described as "a straightforward middle-class Englishman who just happened to be an artistic genius." (from Culture of England)
Image 40Canterbury Cathedral is the seat of the Primate of All England, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the most senior bishop of the Church of England. (It was the property of the Roman Catholic Church before the English Reformation.) (from Culture of England)
Image 41Elizabeth I (from History of England)
Image 42Anglo-Saxon helmet from the Sutton Hoo ship burial, 625 AD (replica) (from History of England)
Image 43Jack In the Green, a traditional English folk custom being celebrated in Hastings Old Town, known for its many pre-Victorian buildings. (from Culture of England)
Image 44Depiction of the Battle of Hastings (1066) on the Bayeux Tapestry (from History of England)
Image 45Londinium (Roman London), c. 120 AD (from History of England)
Image 46Artefacts from Bush Barrow at Stonehenge. Wessex culture, Early Bronze Age, c. 1900 BC (from History of England)
Image 47Frontispiece of Bede's Life of St Cuthbert, showing King Æthelstan presenting a copy of the book to the saint himself. c. 930 (from History of England)
Image 48Francis Bacon led the advancement of both natural philosophy and the scientific method and his works remained deeply influential in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 49Sir Isaac Newton is regarded as one of the most influential scientists of all time and as a key figure in the Scientific Revolution. (from Culture of England)
Image 50The first general laws against child labour, the Factory Acts, were passed in Britain in the first half of the 19th century. Children younger than nine were not allowed to work and the work day of youth under the age of 18 was limited to twelve hours. (from History of England)
Image 51The Ruthwell Cross, 8th century AD (from History of England)
Image 52Procession of characters from Shakespeare's plays (from Culture of England)
Image 53Remains of the Roman baths at Bath, England. (from History of England)
Image 54Durham Cathedral. The Norman cathedral was built 1093–1133 (from History of England)
Image 55A pint of real ale (from Culture of England)
Image 56King Henry VIII (from History of England)
Image 57The Procession Picture, c. 1600, showing Elizabeth I borne along by her courtiers (from History of England)
Image 58King James I of England (from History of England)
Image 59The Staffordshire Hoard is the largest hoard of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork yet found^[update]. It consists of almost 4,600 items and metal fragments. (from Culture of England)
Image 60King Charles II, a patron of the arts and sciences, supported the Royal Society, a scientific group whose early members included Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle and Sir Isaac Newton. (from Culture of England)
Image 61The Billingsgate Fish Market in London in the early 19th century (from History of England)
Image 62Anglo-Saxon king with his Witan. Biblical scene in the Old English Hexateuch (11th century) (from History of England)
Image 63The Battersea Shield (detail), 350 BC. (from History of England)
Image 64Sir Francis Drake's voyage 1585–86 (from History of England)
Image 65Geoffrey Chaucer, c. 1340s–1400, author of The Canterbury Tales (from History of England)
Image 66Bronze coins of Cunobelin, called "King of the Britons" by Suetonius. 1–42 AD. (from History of England)
Image 67Stinking Bishop cheese (from Culture of England)
Image 68Durham Cathedral, dating from 1093 (from Culture of England)
Image 69Folio 27r from the Lindisfarne Gospels, c. 720 AD (from History of England)
Image 70National performing arts are held annually at the Royal Albert Hall, as well as The Proms during the summer. (from Culture of England)
Image 71King Charles I, who was beheaded in 1649 (from History of England)
Image 72One of only four surviving exemplifications of the 1215 text, Cotton MS. Augustus II. 106, property of the British Library (from History of England)
Image 73The English landscape garden at Stourhead, described as a 'living work of art' when first opened in the 1750s (from Culture of England)
Image 74A traditional Punch and Judy booth, at Swanage, Dorset, England (from Culture of England)
Image 75Countries where English is natively spoken or has official status (from Culture of England)
Image 76Stonehenge, erected in several stages from c.3000–2500 BC (from History of England)
Image 77First English Civil War at the Battle of Marston Moor, 1644 (from History of England)

Good article - show another

This is a Good article, an article that meets a core set of high editorial standards.

The Exchequer of Pleas, or Court of Exchequer, was a court that dealt with matters of equity, a set of legal principles based on natural law and common law in England and Wales. Originally part of the curia regis, or King's Council, the Exchequer of Pleas split from the curia in the 1190s to sit as an independent central court. The Court of Chancery's reputation for tardiness and expense resulted in much of its business transferring to the Exchequer. The Exchequer and Chancery, with similar jurisdictions, drew closer together over the years until an argument was made during the 19th century that having two seemingly identical courts was unnecessary. As a result, the Exchequer lost its equity jurisdiction. With the Judicature Acts, the Exchequer was formally dissolved as a judicial body by an Order in Council on 16 December 1880.

The Exchequer's jurisdiction at various times was common law, equity or both. Initially a court of both common law and equity, it lost much of its common law jurisdiction after the formation of the Court of Common Pleas. From then on, it concerned itself with equitable matters and those common law matters that it had discretion to try, such as actions brought against Exchequer officials and actions brought by the monarch against non-paying debtors. (Full article...)

List of Good articles

Did you know?

A trade-cog, the main horse-transport type used during the invasion of England

...that the 1952 Farnborough Airshow DH.110 crash is the last time spectators were killed in an accident at a British air show?
...that Mary Somerville was the first to sign John Stuart Mill's petition to give women the right to vote?
...that William the Conqueror's transport of over 2000 horses across the English Channel during the Norman invasion of England is depicted in the Bayeux Tapestry?
...that the Premier League's proposal to play some matches outside England was condemned by the Football Supporters' Federation as an "outrageous desecration of the national game"?

More selections

In the news

29 March 2024 –: Pouria Zeraati, an Iranian dissident journalist working for IITV, is injured in a stabbing in London. He is hospitalized in stable condition. (BBC News)

Read more...

Selected featured content

Articles:

Lists:

Read more...

Selected quotes

“

England... is a nation of shopkeepers

”

— Napoleon

More selections • Read more...

Related WikiProjects

England • Bedfordshire • Brighton • Cheshire • Cornwall • Derbyshire • Dorset • Greater Manchester • Hampshire • Lincolnshire • London • Merseyside • Northamptonshire • North East England • Sheffield • Surrey. Warwickshire • West Midlands • Worcestershire • Yorkshire

Topics

Cities and major towns: Blackpool • Birmingham • Bristol • Chelmsford • Leeds • Liverpool • London • Manchester • Newcastle • Nottingham • Oxford • Portsmouth • Sheffield • Southampton • Stoke-on-Trent

Culture: The Football Association • Rugby Football Union • England and Wales Cricket Board • English inventions and discoveries

Geography: Geology • Climate • Mountains and hills • Islands • Rivers

Economy: Bank of England • London Stock Exchange • Chancellor of the Exchequer • Monetary Policy Committee • HM Treasury

History: Timeline of English history • Prehistoric Britain • Roman Britain • Anglo-Saxon England • Norman England • Plantagenet England • House of Lancaster • House of York • House of Tudor • House of Stuart

Governance: Kingdom of England • Prime Minister of the United Kingdom • Parliament of the United Kingdom • Home Secretary • Local Government Boundary Commission for England • Administrative divisions of England • English law

Symbols: Flags • Flag of England • St George's Cross • Tudor rose • Coat of arms of England

Things you can do

Things you can do.

Please visit the English Wikipedians' notice board and help to write new England-related articles, and expand and improve existing ones.
Visit Wikipedia:WikiProject England/Assessment, and help out by assessing unrated English articles.
Add the Project Banner to English articles around Wikipedia.
Check for announcements and open tasks for ways to improve English related articles.
Help nominate and select new content for the England portal.
Requested articles: Charterhouse Lane • Renewable energy in England • Ealing Village
Expand: Dorothy Boyd • David Troughton

Related Portals

East Midlands	London	North East England	North West England	South East England	South West England	West Midlands	Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands	London	North East	North West	South East	South West	West Midlands	Yorkshire and the Humber
Derbyshire	London transport		Cheshire Cumbria Greater Manchester Lancashire	Berkshire East Sussex Hampshire Kent Oxfordshire Surrey West Sussex	Cornwall Devon Somerset	Staffordshire	Yorkshire