Christmas is coming and we are starting to think about decorating our homes – of course for most people in Britain who celebrate Christmas, the main home decoration is the Christmas tree. Going to somewhere like this real Christmas trees Leicester based farm https://welfordchristmastreefarm.co.uk/ to pick out your perfect tree is a big Christmas tradition that dates back centuries…
Before Christmas was celebrated, the midwinter was a time of celebration and across Europe midwinter ceremonies were held to bring light to the darkest of days and to get people together. Sacrifices were made to assure the return of the sun, and people spent time together, lighting fires to let the light in.
A lot of this is very much what we do now, and that includes bringing in the green – a tradition where the evergreen plants of the forest were brought into the home as a symbol of life going on throughout the winter months.
The Christmas tree as we know it, is something that became popular in the British Isles during the Victorian era, as Queen Charlotte, who was German put up the first Christmas tree at Windsor, a tradition from her native Germany, and it was something that stuck with Prince Albert making it a staple of the festive season. Seeing the royal Christmas trees on display, demand grew in the UK to have a tree in the home, and decorate it with candles, gifts and ornaments, something that has remained popular to this day.
