Somebody asked historians about their favourite piece of obscure UK history – 19 fascinating stories almost lost to the mists of time
The UK is a country with an enormously long history, which means that we end up mainly learning about the big hitting events, like the Battle of Hastings, the Industrial Revolution and World War II. But what about the more obscure but still fascinating things that have almost been forgotten?
Over on the AskUK subreddit, apple_kicks asked this:
UK historians: What’s your favourite piece of obscure UK history and any good resources to learn more about it? Arm chair historians welcome to share what they know too.
And lots of people chipped in with fascinating events that are worth learning more about. Check these out…
1.
‘There was an accident at a brewery in London back in the 1800s where a giant vat of ale burst open and a fifteen foot wave of beer went down the street killing eight people.’
–bambonie11
2.
‘One of my favourite little nuggets is the fact that when Wellington won the battle of Vitoria in 1813, amongst the stuff captured was the French Marshal Jourdan’s baton. Wellington sent it back to the Prince Regent who responded saying “You have sent me […] the Staff of a French Marshal, and I send you in return that of England.’
Except the British army didn’t have Batons/Staffs for Field Marshalls, so one had to be hastily designed. And tradition being what it is, a baton then became part of the ceremonial gear of a Field Marshal.’
–ProfessorYaffle1
3.
‘The dramatic death of William Huskisson MP at the opening of one of the first railways is the first one I think of.’
–HamsterEagle
4.
‘Between 400 and 600 CE, there is no British history, just speculation written 100+ years later. The only contemporaneous writings we have are St Patrick’s autobiography and a letter he wrote, and he wasn’t exactly a historian, and that’s it. The King Arthur legend arose from this time, which gives you an idea of just how confused events became in later retellings. It has always fascinated me.’
–No_Ring_3348
5.
‘In 1779, the sleepy and beautiful Northumbrian village of Alnmouth was struck during the American Civil War by American privateer John Paul Jones. He shot a cannonball at the church, which missed, and hit someone’s roof and bounced off. Local oldies say on their Facebook groups that the cannonball is still sitting in someone’s garden as a decoration and they remember playing with it as kids.’
–pickindim_kmet
6.
‘Hereward the Wake was once a well-known name, but I don’t think many are aware of him these days. An Anglo-Saxon outlaw that rebelled against William the Bastard, and might have inspired outlaw tales like Robin Hood.’
–OllyDee
7.
‘The worlds first ATM was installed in Enfield, North London in 1967. We all know that fact. But the paper vouchers which held the bank notes needed a radioactive isotope in the ink for the machine to read them. And did until the optical readers were introduced in the early 90s.’
–Defiant-Tackle-0728
8.
‘If you were born within the Hundreds of St Briavels (a village in the Forest of Dean) and work for a year and a day in someones mine, you qualify to be a Freeminer and can work coal, stone and iron ore in said area.’
–ThereIWasDigging
9.
‘Everyone is taught in school that England has not been invaded since 1066 but this strangely ignores the Dutch invasion in 1667 (though the Government/monarchy were not overthrown),’
–jollygoodvelo
10.
‘The Great Western Railway, in 1947, made an experimental snow blower by strapping two jet engines (the same as the ones used in the Gloster Meteor) to a flat wagon and pointing the exhaust at the tracks. It had its own battery and fuel tank, but they also had a second flat wagon behind it with a fuel bowser parked on top.
Apparently, it was quite successful at clearing snow, but the idea didn’t catch on, likely due to either fuel costs or noise.’
–practicalcabinet