England Historical Facts

The smallest Police Station in London is inside the Wellington Arch.

The Cornish Pasty, we all know of this icon, the miner's meal at "croust" time (break to eat time). What of one of Cornwall's other traditional industries? The Pasty and the fisherman does not go together, a skipper would not allow a pasty on his vessell--- to go to sea with a pasty/pasties on board is very bad luck!!

The village of Great Milton, Oxfordshire, is the home of French chef Raymond Blanc's restaurant and hotel, Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons.

All over Britain on Ordnance Survey maps there are heights and contours shown. All over Britain there are Ordnance Survey bench marks etched onto substantial buildings from which the height of the bench can be assertained, not to mention all the triangulation pillars with their heights recorded. All these heights all over Britain are based on the Ordnance Survey Datum level based on the mean sea level at Newlyn. There is a fundamental bench mark sealed in the end of the harbour pier.

The water table beneath Salisbury Cathedral is only four feet below the surface.

There was a state of war between the Netherlands and the Isles of Scilly for 335 years which ended in 1986, probably the longest war in history. The war was probably also unique in that there was never a shot fired. It all began at the final stages of the English Civil War after the sinking of Dutch shipping.

Chapel Street in Penzance is home to many tales of the past including the first announcement of Nelson's victory at Trafalgar from the minstrel's gallery in the Union Hotel. Local fishermen had learnt of the fact from the ship hurrying to Falmouth to bring the news officially to Britain. The house at no. 25 Chapel Street was home to Maria Branwell before she moved to Yorkshire , married the Reverend Patrick Bronte and became mother to the famous Bronte family. She never lost her love of Cornwall, as she lay on her death bed she had the maid prop her up so she could watch the maid clear and prepare the grate as she did it the same way as it was done all those years ago, the Cornish way.

The York Food & Drink Festival is the largest event of its kind in the UK.

The historic city of York claims to be the most haunted city in the world, with 504 recorded hauntings.

In 1568, Mary Queen of Scots was imprisoned at Bolton Castle after her escape from Scotland.