1. Story of England: Stone Age to Roman Days
Dan Snow's History Hit
History Hit
4.7 • 13.7K Ratings
🗓️ 21 May 2023
⏱️ 51 minutes
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Summary
Dan begins his ultimate historical road trip at the mysterious plinths at Stonehenge in the South-West of England. Dan uncovers how the stones arrived in Salisbury all the way from Western Wales and unravels the ancient burial practices of England’s early humans with English Heritage curator Heather Sabire. He hears how England was once populated by rhinos and elephants from the Natural History Museum’s Professor Chris Stringer. Passing through Old Sarum, the site of an Iron Age hillfort, Dan muses over what we have to thank those Latin invaders for in our daily lives, from our transport network to our baths. The day draws to a close as Dan prepares for the invasion of William the Conqueror at Pevensey, 100 miles east down England’s south coast.
Produced by James Hickmann and Mariana Des Forges. Edit and sound design by Dougal Patmore and artwork by Teet Ottin
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | When I was a child, we did history every weekend. We went to battlefields and cathedrals |
| 0:08.0 | and museums and grand houses and it was also different. There is something about England's |
| 0:15.0 | history which is so rich, so vibrant, so busy. And while we've destroyed far too much, |
| 0:22.7 | we've preserved so many wonderful sights and places and objects. For millennia, the sea |
| 0:30.8 | has connected us to the world. And for all those millennia, humans have been arriving |
| 0:36.6 | on England shores. They've come from across Europe. They've walked across. They've taken |
| 0:41.9 | small boats across the North Sea and the Channel. They've been carrying tools and treasures, |
| 0:47.3 | ideas, weapons and diseases. Our history has been a never-seacing drama that's just unfolded |
| 0:57.0 | as all these invaders, immigrants and visitors reacted with what they found here. Fusing |
| 1:06.5 | together, driving out, overcoming, cooperating, either way, shaping this country into what |
| 1:14.2 | is today. From our landscape, our character, our language, industries, laws, religions |
| 1:21.2 | and settlements. And that's why I love history. I spent my whole life studying history and presenting |
| 1:32.2 | TV shows and podcasts about the history of England and every day I come across something |
| 1:39.2 | new I've got to wrap my head around. From the turbulent kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon |
| 1:44.7 | period, like Castorins, Yorkers, Roundhead, Royalists, several kings called George, |
| 1:49.9 | there's a lot to get through. But on Dan's snows history, we like to go big. And so, |
| 1:55.5 | in our most ambitious series yet, I'm embarking on a 500 mile road trip through England's |
| 2:02.4 | country side and history. And I'm taking you along for the ride. |
| 2:08.8 | Over the next five days, we'll be dropping jam-packed episodes that take you through one |
| 2:13.5 | million years of English history. Well, some of those fascinating bits of it anyway. As |
| 2:19.2 | I visit English heritage sites across the country, this is episode one of Dan's snows' story |
| 2:26.6 | of England, Stone Age to Roman days. |
... |
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