Sport in England

Inside Wembley Stadium, the most expensive stadium ever built

England has a very strong sporting heritage and codified many sports in the 19th century which are now played around the world. Sports originating in England include association football, cricket, rugby union, rugby league, tennis, badminton, squash,^[191] rounders,^[192] hockey, boxing, snooker, billiards, curling, darts, table tennis, bowls, netball, thoroughbred horseracing and fox hunting. It has helped the development of sailing and Formula One. Football is the most popular of these sports. The England national football team, who play at Wembley Stadium, won the FIFA World Cup in 1966, the year the country hosted the competition. At club level England is recognised by FIFA as the birth-place of club football, due to Sheffield FC founded in 1857 being the oldest club.^[190] The Football Association is the oldest of its kind, FA Cup and The Football League were the first cup and league competitions respectively. In the modern day the Premier League is the world's most lucrative football league and amongst the elite. The European Cup has been won by Liverpool, Manchester United, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa, while Arsenal, Chelsea and Leeds United have reached the final.

England national rugby union team players, pictured here celebrating their 2003 Rugby World Cup victory.

The England national rugby union team won the 2003 Rugby World Cup, the country was one of the host nations of the competition in the 1991 Rugby World Cup and is set to host the 2015 Rugby World Cup.^[196] The top level of club participation is the English Premiership. Leicester Tigers, London Wasps, Bath Rugby and Northampton Saints have had success in the Europe-wide Heineken Cup. In another form of the sport—rugby league which was born in Huddersfield in 1898, the England national rugby league team are ranked third in the world and first in Europe. Since 2008 England has become a full test nation in lieu of the Great Britain national rugby league team, which won three World Cups but is now retired. At a domestic level, clubs previously played in the Rugby League Championship, now known as the Super League. Some of the most successful clubs include Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Leeds Rhinos and Huddersfield Giants; the former three have all won the World Club Challenge previously. In tennis the Wimbledon Championships are the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely considered the most prestigious.

The England cricket team is a composite England and Wales team—cricket is regarded as England's national sport. One of the game's top rivalries is The Ashes test games between England and Australia, competed since 1882, England has won it 92 times. England has hosted four Cricket World Cups and hosted the ICC World Twenty20 in 2009. At domestic level the County Championship is played where Yorkshire are by far the most successful club, ahead of Sussex and Middlesex. William Penny Brookes was prominent in organising the format for the modern Olympic Games—London has hosted the Summer Olympics in 1908 and 1948, as well as being set to host in 2012. The Commonwealth Games held every four years is competed in by England. Sport England is the governing body responsible for distributing funds and providing strategic guidance for sporting activity in England. A Grand Prix is usually held at Silverstone but will be moved to Donington.

Museums in England

British Museum in London

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. Seventeen of the twenty-five United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best known of these include; Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others. There are many museums in England, but the most notable of all is London's British Museum. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.

Museums in England

British Museum in London

English Heritage is a governmental body with a broad remit of managing the historic sites, artefacts and environments of England. It is currently sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The charity National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty holds a contrasting role. Seventeen of the twenty-five United Kingdom UNESCO World Heritage Sites fall within England. Some of the best known of these include; Hadrian's Wall, Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites, Tower of London, Jurassic Coast, Saltaire, Ironbridge Gorge, Studley Royal Park and various others. There are many museums in England, but the most notable of all is London's British Museum. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. The British Library in London is the national library and is one of the world's largest research libraries, holding over 150 million items in all known languages and formats; including around 25 million books. The most senior art gallery is the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, which houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The Tate galleries house the national collections of British and international modern art; they also host the famously controversial Turner Prize.

Music of England

	"Greensleeves" The Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black" The Beatles' "Get Back"
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The traditional folk music of England is centuries old and has contributed to several genres prominently; mostly sea shanties, jigs, hornpipes and dance music. It has its own distinct variations and regional peculiarities. Wynkyn de Worde printed ballads of Robin Hood from the 16th century are an important artefact, as are John Playford's The Dancing Master and Robert Harley's Roxburghe Ballads collections.^[177] Some of the best known songs are The Good Old Way, Pastime with Good Company, Maggie May and Spanish Ladies amongst others. Many nursery rhymes are of English origin such as Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Roses are red, Jack and Jill, Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush and Humpty Dumpty.^[178] Early English composers in classical music include Renaissance artists Thomas Tallis and William Byrd, followed up by Henry Purcell from the Baroque period. German-born George Frideric Handel became a British subject^[179] and spent most of his composing life in London, where he created some of the most well-known and frequently-performed works of classical music, The Messiah, Water Music, and Music for the Royal Fireworks. There was a revival in the profile of composers from England in the 20th century with Benjamin Britten, Frederick Delius, Edward Elgar, Gustav Holst, Ralph Vaughan Williams and others.^[180] Modern English composers include Michael Nyman, best known for his scores for films by Peter Greenaway and for The Piano.

In the field of popular music many English bands and solo artists have been cited as the most influential and best-selling musicians of all time. Acts such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Elton John, Queen, Rod Stewart and The Rolling Stones are among the highest selling recording artists in the world.^[181] Many musical genres have origins or strong associations with England, such as British invasion, hard rock, glam rock, heavy metal, mod, britpop, drum and bass, progressive rock, punk rock, indie rock, gothic rock, shoegazing, acid house, UK garage, trip hop and dubstep. Large outdoor music festivals in the summer and autumn are popular, such as Glastonbury, V Festival, Reading and Leeds Festivals. The most prominent opera house in England is the Royal Opera House at Covent Gardens.^[183] A major cultural event held annually is The Proms, a season of orchestral classical music concerts held at the Royal Albert Hall.^[183]

Classical ballet in England is performed by of one of the world's foremost ballet companies, The Royal Ballet, its reputation built on two prominent figures of twentieth century dance, prima ballerina Margot Fonteyn and choreographer Frederick Ashton.

English literature

Geoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet and philosopher, best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales.

Early authors wrote in Latin such as Bede and Alcuin.^[170] While the period of Old English literature provided the epic poem Beowulf, along with Christian writings such as Judith, Cædmon's Hymn and saintly hagiographies.^[170] The best known secular prose is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Following the Norman conquest Latin continued amongst the educated classes, as well as an Anglo-Norman literature. Middle English literature emerged with Geoffrey Chaucer author of The Canterbury Tales, along with Gower, the Pearl Poet and Langland. Franciscans, William of Ockham and Roger Bacon were major philosophers of the Middle Ages. Julian of Norwich with her Revelations of Divine Love was a prominent Christian mystic. With the English Renaissance literature in the Early Modern English style appeared. William Shakespeare, whose works include Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and A Midsummer Night's Dream, remains one of the most championed authors in English literature. Marlowe, Spenser, Sydney, Kyd, Donne, Jonson are other giants of the Elizabethan age.^[171] Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes wrote on empiricism and materialism, including scientific method and social contract.^[171] Filmer wrote on the Divine Right of Kings. Marvell was the best known poet of the Commonwealth, while John Milton authored Paradise Lost during the Restoration.

This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, this earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, this other Eden, demi-paradise; this fortress, built by nature for herself. This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England. —William Shakespeare.[172]

Some of the most prominent philosophers from the Enlightenment were Locke, Paine, Johnson and Benthem. More radical elements were later countered by Edmund Burke who is regarded as the founder of conservatism. The poet Alexander Pope with his satirical verse became well regarded. The English played a significant role in romanticism—Coleridge, Byron, Keats, M Shelley, PB Shelley, Blake and Wordsworth were major figures.^[173] In response to the Industrial revolution, agrarian writers looked to find a way between liberty and tradition; Cobbett, Chesterton and Belloc were main exponents, while founder of guild socialism, Penty and cooperative movement advocate Cole are somewhat related. Empiricism continued through Mill and Russell, while Williams was involved in analytics. Authors from around the time of the Victorian era include Dickens, Brontë sisters, Austen, Kipling, Wells, and Underhill.^[175] Since then England has continued to produce novelists such as C. S. Lewis, Orwell, Blyton, Christie, Tolkien author of The Lord of the Rings and JK Rowling author of Harry Potter.