
Swale Search & Recovery
Metal Detecting Club

WHO & WHEN
Prehistory
Archaeologists traditionally divide prehistory into three main periods: the Stone, Bronze and Iron ages, named after the main technologies used at the time. Each period is subdivided, for example, the Stone Age into the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic (Old, Middle and New Stone Ages).
The earliest known humans arrived in Britain around 900,000 years ago. Prehistory stretches from then until the Roman invasion in AD 43.
BRONZE AGE (2300–800 BC)
In about 2300 BC the first metal weapons and jewellery began to arrive in Britain, along with a new kind of pottery known as Beaker. People were buried with these objects in individual graves, some of which were covered with round barrows. At first the metal used was copper, but by about 2200 BC bronze (an alloy of copper and tin) was being worked in Britain.
IRON AGE (800 BC–AD 50)
In the early and middle Iron Age people built bigger and more elaborate hillforts. They also began to make weapons and tools out of iron. Evidence of ritual offerings of military equipment and fine metalwork suggest the dominance of a warrior aristocracy and the emergence of tribal territories.
The late Iron Age saw the first coinage and the emergence of tribal centres. It is during this period that Britain came into contact with the Roman world and with this contact came the first written records of life on our islands from the Greeks and the Romans. Accounts from the period mention chariot warfare and religious leaders called Druids, who supposedly performed sacrifices
ROMAN INVASION & OCCUPATION AD 43 - AD 410
In AD 43, the Roman emperor Claudius launched an invasion of Britain, and over the next 45 years the Roman army gradually extended its control over much of present-day England and Wales and ventured into territory now in Scotland. Eventually they established a new Roman province, Britannia, which formed part of the empire until the early 5th century AD
EARLY MEDIEVAL (THE DARK AGES) 410 AD - 1066 AD
The 5th and 6th centuries are wrapped in obscurity. Records are few, difficult to interpret, or written long after the events they describe, hence the phrase 'The Dark Ages'. This period saw numerous invasions from foreign forces including the Gaels from Ireland, The Vikings from Scandinavia, The Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes from Germany and the Normans from France & Flanders.
Rulers from this period are:
Egbert (802–839)
Aethelwulf (839–856/858)
Aethelbald (855/856–860)
Aethelberht (860–865/866)
Aethelred I (865/866–871)
Alfred the Great (871–899)
Edward the Elder (899–924)
Athelstan (925–939)
Edmund I (939–946)
Eadred (946–955)
Eadwig (955–959)
Edgar (959–975)
Edward the Martyr (975–978)
Ethelred II the Unready (978–1013)
Sweyn Forkbeard (1013–14)
Ethelred II the Unready (1014–16)
Edmund II Ironside (1016)
Canute (1016–35)
Harold I Harefoot (1035–40)
Hardecanute (1040–42)
Edward the Confessor (1042–66)
Harold II (1066)
MEDIEVAL 1066 AD - 1485 AD
Duke William of Normandy’s resounding triumph over King Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066 marked the dawn of a new era. The overthrow of the Saxon Kingdom of England was to transform the country that the Normans conquered, including how it was organised and governed, its language and its customs and perhaps most visibly today, its architecture.
There were four Norman Kings.
William I (1066 - 1087)
William II (1087 - 1100)
Henry I (1100 - 1135)
Stephen (1135 - 1154)
This was followed by the14 Plantagenet Kings
Henry II (1154 - 1189)
John (1199 – 1216)
Henry III (1216 – 1272)
Edward I (1272–1307)
Edward II (1307 – 1327)
Edward III (1327 – 1377)
Richard II (1377 – 1399)
House of Lancaster
Henry IV (1399 – 1413)
Henry V (1413 – 1422)
Henry VI (1422 – 1461)
House of York
Edward IV (1461 – 1470)
House of Lancaster
Henry VI (1470 – 1471)
House of York
Edward IV (1471–83)
Edward V (1483)
Richard III (1483–85)
TUDORS 1485 – 1603
The house of Tudor came to power after Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. This battle ended the Wars of the Roses. Henry Tudor became King Henry VII. There were 5 Tudor Monarchs.
Henry VII (1485 – 1509)
Henry VIII (1509 – 1547)
Edward VI (1547 – 1553)
Mary I (1553 – 1558)
Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603)
STUARTS 1603 – 1714
The Tudor line ended when Elizabeth I died in 1603. The crown passed to her cousin James of the house of Stuart (or Stewart). At the time he was James VI, King of Scotland. He became James I of England, and from 1603 until 1707 the English monarch also ruled Scotland. In the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland joined together to become one country, Great Britain. There were 5 Stuart Monarchs.
James I (1603– 1625)
Charles I (1625 – 1649)
Commonwealth Period 1649 - 1660
Charles II (1660 – 1685)
James II (1685 – 1688)
William III and Mary II (1689 – 1702)
Anne (1702 – 1714)
HANOVERIANS 1714 - 1901
The house of Hanover became the ruling family of England in 1714. Hanover was a German state, and both George I and George II were born in Germany. They were considered foreigners by their British subjects. Near the end of his reign, George III suffered from mental illness and was no longer able to rule effectively. His son, George IV, acted as regent from 1811 until 1820.
George I (1714 – 1727)
George II (1727 – 1760)
George III (1760 – 1820)
George IV (1820 – 1830)
William IV (1830 – 1837)
Victoria (1837 – 1901)
WINDSORS 1901 - PRESENT DAY
When Queen Victoria died in 1901, the house of Hanover came to an end. She was succeeded by her son Edward VII. His dynasty was at first called the house of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, for the family name of his father, who was Victoria’s German-born husband, Albert, the prince consort. When Edward died, his son became king as George V. During World War I, George V changed the family name to Windsor because Britain was fighting Germany, and Saxe-Coburg-Gotha was a German name. It was decreed in 1917 that all English-born male descendants of Queen Victoria take the last name Windsor.
Edward VII (1901 – 1910)
George V (1910 – 1936)
Edward VIII (1936)
George VI (1936 – 1952)
Elizabeth II (1952 – 2022)
Charles III (2022 – Present)