Overview
- Over ten million turkeys are eaten in the UK each Christmas, underscoring the bird’s central role in the festive meal.
- Turkeys arrived in Britain in the mid-1500s, when beef and goose were the usual centrepieces.
- Henry VIII reportedly replaced his customary goose with a Norfolk Black turkey, setting a trend among the elite.
- Farmers embraced turkey because cows and chickens could continue providing milk and eggs instead of being slaughtered.
- The custom developed in Britain rather than from North American Thanksgiving, becoming common by 1573 and expanding through the 17th century.