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The culture of England is sometimes difficult to separate clearly from the culture of the United Kingdom, so influential has English culture been on the cultures of the British Isles and, on the other hand, given the extent to which other cultures have influenced life in England.

The Hay Wain by John Constable is considered an archetypal English painting

Main article: English art

English art is the body of art originating from England. Nikolaus Pevsner attempted a definition in his 1956 book The Englishness of English Art.

It has developed over several millennia, to recent movements such as Brit Art, and now encompasses a variety of forms — painting, photography, sculpture and performance art.

It is often considered that English landscape painting typifies the tradition of English art, mirroring as it does the development of the country house and its landscaping.

Main article: English cuisine

England being the first industrialized country in the world, urbanised workers were in many cases cut off from regional food traditions. Some consider that English cuisine has consequently suffered from a widespread image of blandness and lack of distinctiveness. The openness of English diners to exotic dishes has also meant that English cooking does not enjoy as high a profile as other nations' culinary traditions. More recently, a new style of cooking called Modern British has emerged that combines traditional British ingredients with foreign culinary influences.

The Full English breakfast remains an enduring tradition for many, despite the increasing popularity of the continental-style breakfast, or no breakfast at all, for busy workers. Tea and beer are typical drinks. Cider is produced in the West Country, and the south of England has seen the reintroduction of vineyards producing high quality white wine on a comparatively small scale.

England produces a range of cheeses in various regions, including:

• Cheddar cheese
• Stilton cheese
• Wensleydale cheese
• Lancashire cheese
• Dorset Blue Vinney cheese
• Cheshire cheese
• Double Gloucester cheese
• Red Leicester
• Blue cheese
• Lincolnshire Poacher

Other foods associated with England include:

• Sunday roast
• Lancashire Hotpot
• Cornish pasty
• Spotted Dick
• Mince Pies
• Fish and chips (and mushy peas)
• Worcester Sauce
• Clotted cream from Devon and Cornwall
• Yorkshire pudding
• Sausage and mash
• Eccles cake
• Scones
• Shepherd's Pie
• Cumberland sausage
• Lincolnshire sausage
• British Curries
  • Balti
  • Chicken Tikka Masala
• Other typical British dishes

Morris dancing is one of the more visible English folk traditions, with many differing regional variations.

Main article: English folklore

English folklore is the folk tradition which has evolved in England over a number of centuries. Some English legends can be traced back to their roots, even as far as before the Roman invasion of Britain, while the origin of others is fairly uncertain or disputed. England abounds with folklore, in all forms, from such obvious manifestations as the traditional semi-mystical Arthurian legends and semi-historical Robin Hood tales, to contemporary urban myths and facets of cryptozoology such as the Beast of Bodmin Moor.

Morris dance and related practices such as the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance preserve old English folk traditions, as do Mummers Plays. The utopian vision of a traditional England is sometimes referred to as Merry England.

In recent years, Stonehenge has become a focus for modern summer solstice celebrations

Stonehenge is believed by many English people and foreigners alike to hold an iconic place in the culture of England. Other built structures such as cathedrals and parish churches are associated with a sense of traditional Englishness, as is often the palatial 'stately home'; a notion established in part by English author Jane Austen's work Pride and Prejudice. The English country house and the associated rural lifestyle forms an interest among many people in England as typified by visits to properties managed by English Heritage or the National Trust.

Landscape gardening as developed by Capability Brown set an international trend for the English garden. Gardening, and visiting gardens, are regarded as typically English pirsuits, fuelled somewhat by the perception of England as a nation of eccentric ameteurs and autodidacts. In many places, people gather for May Day festivals on the 1st of May to celebrate "the awakening of the flowers" - the beginning of summer. This traditionally involves the local schoolchildren skipping around a maypole - a large pole erected on the village green (historically a tree would have been specially cut down) - each carrying a coloured ribbon, resulting in a multi-coloured plaited pattern. The festival traditionally features Morris dancing and various vestivities, culminating in the crowning of a 'May Queen' - a pupil from the local school. Many regional variations of the festivals exist, including the Rochester Sweeps' Festival and the "'Obby 'Oss" festival of Padstow, which is the oldest May Day festival still practised today, dating back to the 14th century.

• Historic houses in England
• English Heritage Properties in England
• List of National Trust properties in England

William Hogarth's depiction of a scene from Shakespeare's The Tempest is an example of how English literature influenced English painting in the 18th century

Main article: English literature

The term English literature refers to literature written in the English language, or literature composed in English by writers who are not necessarily from England. Writers noted for expressing Englishness, or associated particularly with regions of England, include William Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy (Wessex), A. E. Housman (Shropshire), Rupert Brooke, Jane Austen, Arnold Bennett and the Lake Poets (Lake District).

• List of English novelists
• Anglo-Saxon literature
• Elizabethan theatre
• Big six in the romantic literature of England

Main article: Music of England

England has a long and rich musical history. The United Kingdom has, like most European countries, undergone a roots revival in the last half of the 20th century. English music has been an instrumental and leading part of this phenomenon, which peaked at the end of the 1960s and into the 1970s.

The achievements of the Anglican choral tradition following on from 16th century composers such as Thomas Tallis, John Taverner and William Byrd have tended to overshadow instrumental composition. The semi-operatic innovations of Henry Purcell did not lead to a native operatic tradition, but George Frederick Handel found important royal patrons and enthusiastic public support in England. The rapturous receptions afforded by audiences to visiting musical celebrities such as Haydn often contrasted with the lack of recognition for home-grown talent. However, the emergence of figures such as Edward Elgar and Arthur Sullivan in the 19th century showed a new vitality in English music. In the 20th century, Benjamin Britten and Michael Tippett emerged as internationally-recognised opera composers, and Ralph Vaughan Williams and others collected English folk tunes and adapted them to the concert hall. Cecil Sharp was a leading figure in the English folk revival.

Finally, a new beat out of Liverpool emerged in 1962. The Beatles: John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, became the world's most popular musicians of their time. The "Fab Four" opened the doors for British acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd to the globe.

Some of England's leading contemporary artists include Elton John, Arctic Monkeys, Robbie Williams, Oasis, Radiohead, David Bowie, Coldplay and Muse.

The Church of England functions as the established church in England. Both the Church of England and the Catholic Church in England and Wales trace their formal history from the 597 Augustinian mission to the English. Other churches which have started in England include the Methodist church, the Quakers and the Salvation Army.

See also: Rugby union in England and Rugby league in England

Association football, cricket, rugby union and rugby league are considered to be the national sports of England.

Football maintains a consistent popularity across the country and is often indicative of trends across wider culture in England, such as in clothing and music. The increase in hooliganism amongst football fans in the 1970s and 1980s can be in part attributed to a parallel rise in unemployment. As England, and the United Kingdom as a whole, returned to a more affluent and stable financial position in the late 1990s, violent football culture was transformed in to a culture where families were welcome, and nationalism lost its aggressive edge.

Different sports directly represent the different social classes within England. Rugby league, for instance, is generally seen as the sport of the old mill towns of north-central England, whereas cricket and rugby union have their origins in the private schools of the 18th and 19th centuries respectively.

However, since the English Rugby World Cup victory in 2003, the sport has seen a revival in widespread popularity across the class system. Likewise, after the Ashes victory of 2005, cricket has regained much of the popularity it had lost throughout the 1990s.

Tennis is also one of England's major sports. This can be seen through one of the most prestigious tournaments in tennis, Wimbledon, being held in England.

• Museums in England

• All Info-About English Culture
• Cultural icons of England
• Select bibliography of books about Englishness