Wales Essay

Culture is the customary beliefs, social forms, and material traits of a racial, religious, or social group (Merriam-Webster, 2017). Wales was one of Celtic Europe’s most prominent political and cultural centers, and it retains aspects of culture that are markedly different from those of its English neighbors. Wales is a part of the United Kingdom and is located in a wide peninsula in the western part of the island of Great Britain. Although united politically, administratively, and economically with England since the Act of Union of 1536, Wales has preserved, maintained, and developed a somewhat independent cultural identity. It is the interplay between English and Welsh elements that characterizes life in Wales (Gruffudd, Carter, Smith,

Some things that affect and develop a culture are climate, surrounding cultures, local flora and fauna, and immigrants. Based on these factors people can develop in many different ways, as seen throughout the world today. Wales is no different, drawing influence from neighboring areas. Though England is Anglo-Saxon, Wales is Celtic drawing more influence from Ireland. Like their Celtic neighbors over the water in Ireland, the Welsh have a strong early tradition of Christianity (Gascoigne, 2017). The Welsh kept their Celtic version of Christianity far longer than the English. The Roman date of Easter was not recognized in Wales until 768, over a century after the synod of Whitby. The climate, warm and damp, has guaranteed the development of a lavishness of plant and animal life. Ferns, mosses, and grasslands as well as many wooded areas cover Wales. Oak, mountain ash, and coniferous trees can be found in mountainous areas below 1,000 feet. The pine marten, a small animal not unlike a mink, and the polecat, a member of the weasel family, can be found in Wales and not in Great

Rural areas are separated by a handful of remote farms, normally comprising of the older, old-fashioned whitewashed or stone buildings, usually with slate roofs. Villages grew from the early settlements of the Celtic tribes who chose certain settings for their agricultural or defensive value. More prosperous settlements grew and developed into the political and economic centers of Wales. The Anglo-Norman manorial custom of buildings bunched on a landowner's property, not unlike rural villages in England, was brought to Wales after the conquest of 1282. The village as a center of rural society, conversely, became important only in southeastern Wales. Other rural areas had more spread out and more isolated building patterns. Wood framed houses, originally built around a great hall, appeared in the Middle-Ages in the northeast, and later all over Wales. In the late 1700s, houses started to differ more in size and sophistication, imitating the development of a middle class and amassed differences in wealth. In Glamorgan and Monmouthshire, landowners built brick houses that mirrored the patois style common in England at the time as well as their social status. This imitation of English architecture set landowners apart from the rest of Welsh society. After the Norman Conquest, urban development started to grow around castles and military camps. The bastide, or castle