News

01/12/2017

Friday 1 December is the day when most Britons put up their Christmas Lights

  • We start mid-winter celebrations earlier than our ancestors says English Heritage
  • Festive season not complete without Christmas lights for 77%

Today (Friday 1 December) is the day when most Britons turn on their Christmas lights a survey by English Heritage has revealed, indicating that over the centuries we are celebrating the season earlier and earlier.

While 6% of those who celebrate Christmas admit to putting their lights up as early as November, it’s the 1 December when, across Britain, most of us will be ‘decking the halls’ in festive splendour.

The results suggest that the 21st century is the most eager to get the festive celebrations underway with most people who put their lights up in December doing it on the first day of the month. This weekend is the busiest decorating weekend as almost a third of us will have put our lights up by Sunday night. This is at striking contrast with the stoic Tudors who waited until New Year’s Day before dishing out the presents, medieval people who daren’t decorate their homes until Christmas Eve and our pre-historic ancestors celebrating the midwinter solstice around the 21 December.

English Heritage will be joining the ranks by switching its lights on ten days before Christmas on 15 December when it launches ‘Enchanted’, a new season of outdoor illuminated events at historic properties from Queen Victoria’s Osborne and Tudor Kenilworth Castle to medieval and art deco mix, Eltham Palace.

77% of respondents to the YouGov poll agreed that the festive season was not complete without Christmas lights.

English Heritage Historian Dr Michael Carter said: “The use of light to celebrate Christmas and the mid-winter festivals which preceded it is a tradition which goes back thousands of years. This reminder of the prospect of warmth and growth in the darkest days of winter was vitally important. The date of these celebrations has varied over the centuries, but it’s clear that in the 21st century, we’re more impatient for Christmas to begin than many of our ancestors. What’s also clear is that throughout history, whether consciously or unconsciously, human beings have sought light to lift our spirits in the depths of winter.”

Christmas through the Ages:
For our pre-historic ancestors, celebrations centred on the 21 December, the date of the midwinter solstice.  The sun’s light was revered - the tallest stones at Stonehenge were aligned to mark the position of sunrise on that day - and great feasting would take place.

For the Romans at least five days of feasting and partying called the Saturnalia, began on 17 December. Present giving was not a major part of the festival, but white candles, named cerei, were given as gifts to signify the increase of light after the solstice.

In the Middle Ages churches and private homes were decorated on Christmas Eve with frames covered in evergreens such as holly and stuck with candles. Churches bought candles in bulk to burn on Christmas Day morning and would have been ablaze with light on this ‘most joyous of days’.

For the Tudors, presents were given on New Year’s Day, and roaring fires warmed the feasts in the great halls of the nobility and gentry, such as at Kenilworth Castle in Warwickshire.

In early Stuart England, warmth and light was provided throughout the Twelve Days by the burning of the Christmas or Yule log.

It was the Victorians, in particular Queen Victoria and her beloved Albert, who gave us the Christmas we know today. The Christmas trees Albert introduced from his native Germany in 1840 rapidly caught on, as did decking them with candles and presents, by now given on Christmas Day itself. 'Christmas Box' tips to servants and tradesmen were left until 26 December, establishing Boxing Day for the first time.

During the Second World War, the blackout put an end to the comforting sight of lit Christmas trees in people’s front windows, but by 1944 churches were allowed to light their stained glass windows again as the aerial threat from conventional aircraft was all but ended.

Tradition remains an important element in a perfect Christmas according to 86% surveyed with 70% agreeing that it was nice to pass on a treasured decoration as a family heirloom. 

This December, English Heritage is opening the gates after dark to some of its most prestigious palaces, houses and castles across the country for the first time as it hosts Enchanted, a new season of twilight outdoor events.

For nine evenings only from the 15 – 23 December 2017, visitors across the country will have the opportunity to experience a whole new perspective on these beautiful locations with fantastically creative designs, bringing each site’s unique history to light. 

Visit our events page for further details: http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/whats-on/enchanted-garden-events/