Urgent call for England’s 1100th birthday to create national unity in divided times
The urgent call is being made to transform England’s 1100th birthday on July 12th 2027 into a major nation-building focus, using the inspiration of how King Æthelstan, the grandson of Alfred the Great, succeeded in 927 AD in uniting the Anglo Saxons, and Vikings together to create what we now know as England.
There are fears the opportunity for transforming this remarkable anniversary for everyone who cares about England into a national moment of bridge building and belonging will be missed or could be hijacked by extremists.
We’re calling upon anyone who cares about social cohesion in England to support the campaign, ‘England together 1100 years - what’s your England?’ to use the landmark date to inspire wider and on-going celebrations of what we share in common, what unites us, to create a better place for future generations.
Groups include Absurd Intelligence, Civil Society Together, Community Organisers, Exit Hate, Grow Social Capital, the Jo Cox Foundation’s More in Common Network along with supporters Caroline Lucas, Billy Bragg, and others.
To support the call, a new report, ’26 ideas for returning being English’ produced by social enterprise Grow Social Capital, sharing lessons from its ‘A very English chat’ campaign that earlier this year co-created with the English public ‘The story of England in 50 objects’ for St. George’s Day.
Ideas range from proposing a distinct English national anthem to recognising how ‘being English’ is a skill that needs to be nurtured to build greater national unity and cohesion.
Already a number of historical interest groups are making the call for the anniversary to be celebrated with the England 1100 group featuring prominent medieval historians at https://www.england1100.co.uk while the Birth of England group has launched a petition calling for a new public holiday for July 12th at https://birthofengland.co.uk.
Although not the oldest nation in the world, England is one of the oldest continuous nations with a precisely datable founding moment.
Rooted in the idea that England is at its best when it brings its peoples unite, the call is being made to the English public, grassroots community and faith groups, as well as public bodies, to seize the opportunity provided by the historic date to revisit its past, learn and grow from its history, to inform a greater understanding of its beliefs and values that can guide its future.
Most countries evolved gradually. England has a moment when its warring kingdoms formally became one political community, a moment that can be commemorated, taught, and used to build shared civic identity. It’s what anthropologists call a ‘Foundation story’*. Yet this story of England having a birthday, and recognising Æthelstan, England’s founder king, whose achievements of 927 rivalling the Norman Conquest of 1066 in shaping the England and Britain, has been overlooked.
Æthelstan’s only memorial is at Malmesbury Abbey, Wiltshire where he was buried in 939AD, along with a local Pilgrim’s walking trail, museum and school named after him, and wasn’t until 2012 his first biography appeared.
At Eamont Bridge, Cumbria, although recognised as symbolising the ‘birthplace of England’, is without a formal monument.
Curiously, there is no record of any celebrations marking the 1,000th anniversary back in 1927, a time when the British Empire was one of the world’s pre‑eminent global powers, commanding unmatched territorial reach, economic influence, and cultural impact, revealing a nation defining itself as British rather than English.
In 1966 football’s World Cup was held in England featuring a tournament mascot, ‘World Cup Willie’, a cartoon lion wearing a Union Jack waistcoat, indicating how Englishness was also then equated with British identity.
Modern English identity has since evolved within a vacuum, with no serious discourse or investment to define, understand what it stands for within a British or European context. As a result, extremists seizing symbols of the identity, such as the St. George flag, creates toxic associations for an emblem and wider story that should be serving, and uniting the whole community.
“Modern-day identities are more complex, multi-layered and fluid while people’s idea of ‘What is England?’ is changing, and. There is a need for all of us to reflect how we shape or need to recalibrate how we relate to our English identity” said Andy Green of Grow Social Capital.
“Not many realise that England, the country, has a birthday, being founded on July 12th 927AD. Next year’s 1,100th anniversary next year of an incredible story of how warring tribes were brought together to create a united state, and how it has inspiring lessons for todays and future generations. England’s 1100th anniversary offers a rare national moment to reflect on who we are, how we got here, and what kind of shared future we want”
“Our country’s origins lie not in division, but in the courage to forge a common life. This anniversary must be a profound moment for England that invites every community, every generation, and every part of England to reflect on what unites us, and to look forwards with purpose on what we can build together, recognising that our future is stronger when shared.”
Calls are now being made for a national strategy and campaign England together 1100 years - what’s your England?’ to create a programme of exploring English identity using the landmark anniversary to encourage English people and communities to create their own stories of what Englishness means to them, for public bodies to be ambitious in marking the commemoration, and for faith groups to celebrate together a profound moment of national unity.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the call to make the1100th birthday on July 12th 2027 into a major nation-building event should visit www.AveryEnglishchat.org.uk