Christmas Traditions – The Christmas Tree

There is nothing nicer than relaxing in the depths of Winter, next to an open fire with a nicely decorated Christmas Tree in the corner. This is the iconic Christmas Scene and a warming idea of bliss! But why do we have Christmas Trees?

There is no real agreement as to when we started using Fir Tree’s in the home but is roughly around 1000 years ago where, in Northern Europe, people used to bring Fir Tree’s into the home and hang them upside down as Chandeliers for a better word!

There were also other types of tree’s used that include branches from Hawthorn Plants or A Cherry Tree and planted in the home to hopefully flower around Christmas Day. Those who could not afford a real plant often stacked piles of wood and decorated them within the home instead.

The first documented use of a tree was from modern day Latvia but as mentioned, it is unknown how this came to be and for how long people had them within their homes.

What we do know, is that Christmas Tree’s first came to the UK around the 1830’s where they being fashionable and modern-day, as, with a very long list of other things, around 1841 when Prince Albert (husband to Queen Victoria) had a tree put up within the grounds of Windsor Castle and an article was written about in the London News.

These days, Tree’s come in a whole range of different shapes, sizes and even colours and are a symbol that Christmas is just around the corner. Christmas party’s and games along with the usual Christmas fancy dress outfits! 

Why not share photo’s of your Christmas Tree’s with us on our Facebook page, we would love to see them!