England

Listen to accents and dialects of England. There are currently 115 samples from England, organized into nine regions: Southwest, Southeast, London, East, West Midlands, East Midlands, Yorkshire and Humber, Northwest, and Northeast. There is one additional group for samples that don’t belong in any of the regions. (At the bottom of this page, you will also see the samples listed in numeral order.) Also see Jamaica 15.

 

Southwest

This region includes the counties of Somerset, Bristol, Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire, Dorset, Devon, and Cornwall. Some major cities are Bath, Bristol, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Exeter, Gloucester, Oxford, Plymouth, Swindon, Taunton, Torbay, Weston-super-Mare, and Weymouth. Please select a sample from the list below. (Also see Devon History 1 and 2 on the Oral Histories page.)

England 8  male, 32, 1967, white, Wroughton (Wiltshire) and London
England 31  female, 57, 1944, white, Appledore (Devon)
England 32  male, 49, 1952, white, Appledore (Devon)
England 33  male, 69, 1932, white, Bideford and Plymouth (Devon)
England 34  female, 68, 1933, white, Appledore (Devon)
England 35  female, 22, 1979, white, Barnstaple and Bideford (Devon)
England 36  female, 76, 1925, white, Great Torrington (Devon)
England 37  female, 73, 1928, white, Great Torrington (Devon)
England 38A & B  male, 85, 1916, white, Newbridge and Torrington (Devon)
England 45  female, 21, 1980, white, Barnstaple (Devon)
England 50  male, 58, 1944, white, Devizes (Wiltshire)
England 51  female, 50s, 1940s, white, Devizes (Wiltshire)
England 52  male, 60s, 1930s, white, Somerset (Bristol and north Devon, too)
England 70  female, 21, 1986, white, Torquay (Devon)
England 96  female, 20, 1994, white, Gloucester and Wales
England 100  male, 86, 1931, white, Plymouth (Devon) & South Africa
England 108  male, 51, 1968, white, Bristol
England 112  male, 50, 1969, white British, Bristol

 

Southeast

This region includes the counties of Berkshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Surrey, and West Sussex. Some major cities are Brighton, Worthing, Portsmouth, Southampton, Canterbury, and Reading. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 39  male, 52, 1959, white, Berkshire and East & West Sussex
England 40A & B  female, 81, 1920, white, Andover (Hampshire) & Gloucester
England 41  male, 60s, 1930s, white, Andover (Hampshire) & Portsmouth
England 46  female, 62, 1940, white, Surrey (Cranleigh and near Richmond)
England 49  male, 18, 1983, white, Englefield Green (Surrey)
England 65  male, 50, 1957, white, Woking (Surrey) and Brighton (Sussex)
England 67  female, 50s, 1954, white, Beckenham (Kent)
England 69  female, 28, 1979, white, Portslade (near Brighton, East Sussex)
England 85  female, 38, 1972, white, Southampton (Hampshire)
England 87  female, 21, 1989, white, Guildford (Surrey)
England 88  female, 45, 1966, white, Eastbourne (East Sussex)
England 90  female, 19, 1988, white, Billericay (Essex)
England 91  female, 46, 1966, white, Southampton (Hampshire) and U.S.
England 105  male, 29, 1989, white/Indian, Reigate (Surrey)
England 107  male, 51, 1968, white, Brighton (East Sussex)
England 113  male, 27, 1993, white, Maidstone and Ashford (Kent)

 

London

This region includes all of Greater London. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 42  male, 44, 1957, white, Dagenham and south London
England 59  male, 42, 1962, white, Merton and south London
England 62  female, 21, 1985, white & Sri Lankan, South Norwood (S.E. London)
England 68  male, 37, 1970, black, London (unspecified location)
England 72  female, 24, 1983, white, north London
England 75  male, 22, 1984, black & Chinese, Fulham
England 78  female, 21, 1986, black, Hounslow (west London)
England 79  female, 23, 1984, white, central London (Farringdon)
England 82  female, 32, 1976, white, Tooting & Croydon (and around England)
England 97  female, 57, 1958, white, Isleworth (also north London, Surrey & U.S.)
England 101  female, 59, 1958, white, west London (and United States)
England 106 female, 43, 1976, white, south London (Wandsworth)
England 110  male, 30, 1990, white, Holborn and Greenwich (and also Surrey)
England 116  male, 19, 2003, white/British, West Dulwich (and United Arab Emirates)

 

East

This region includes the counties of Essex, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and parts of Lincolnshire. Some major cities are Chelmsford, Colchester, Welwyn Garden City, Hatfield, St. Alban’s, Bedford, Cambridge, Norwich, Ipswich, King’s Lynn, Luton, and Bedford. Please select a sample from the list below. (Also see Suffolk History 1 on the Oral Histories page.)

England 11  female, 50s, 1940s, white, Norfolk (southeast of the Fens)
England 12  male, 40s, 1950s, white, Lincolnshire (the Fens)
England 28  male, 30, 1971, white, Hatfield (Hertfordshire)
England 47  male, 22, 1980, white, Cambridge (Cambridgeshire)
England 48  male, 25, 1976, white, Huntingdon and Buckden (Cambridgeshire)
England 58  male, 25, 1979, white, High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire)
England 76  female, 28, 1979, black, Cambridge (and London)
England 77  female, 23, 1984, white, Brightlingsea and Colchester (Essex)
England 80  female, 22, 1986, black, South Oxhey and Leavesden (Herts)
England 89  male, 47, 1964, white, Luton (Bedfordshire)
England 93  male, 86, 1926, white, Sproughton (Suffolk)
England 94  female, 68, 1944, white, Felixstowe (Suffolk)
England 95  male, 20, 1993, white, Aylesbury & Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire)
England 99  male, 22, 1995, white (Polish-British), High Wycombe (Buckinghamshire)
England 115  female, 47, 1974, white, Welwyn Garden City (Hertfordshire)

 

East Midlands 

This region includes the counties of Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire (part only), Leicestershire, and Northamptonshire. Some major cities are Derby, Nottingham, Lincoln, Northampton, and Leicester. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 6  male, 40s, 1950s, white, Rushden (Northamptonshire)
England 66  male, 40s, 1962, white, Gainsborough (Lincolnshire) & Yorkshire

 

West Midlands

This region includes the counties of Herefordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands, and Worcestershire. Some major cities are Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, West Bromwich, Coventry, Stoke-on-Trent, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Sutton Coldfield. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 3  male, 24, 1975, white, Stoke-on-Trent (Staffordshire)
England 4  male, 20s, 1977, white, Stratford-upon-Avon and Birmingham
England 53  female, 56, 1947, white, Gaydon (Warwickshire)
England 84  female, 35, 1974, white, Stratford-upon-Avon (Warwickshire)
England 86  male, 20, 1989, white, Coventry (West Midlands)
England 102  female, 63, 1954, white, Birmingham
England 103  male, 22, 1995, white, Birmingham
England 114  female, 20, 2001, white British, Stourbridge and Wollaston

 

Yorkshire and Humber

This includes the counties of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, East Riding of Yorkshire, and Lincolnshire (part only). Some major cities are Sheffield, Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster, Wakefield, Bradford, Leeds, Scarborough, York, Halifax, Hull, and Scarborough. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 55  female, 91, 1912, Greetland and Calderdale (West Yorkshire)
England 56  male, 48, 1955, white, Stainland (West Yorkshire)
England 57  male, 52, 1951, white, Leeds and Halifax (West Yorkshire)
England 74  female, 30, 1976, white, Harrogate (North Yorkshire)
England 81  male, teens, 1989, white, Dewsbury and Leeds (West Yorkshire)
England 83  male, 27, 1982, white, Skipton (North Yorkshire)
England 109  male, 37, 1982, white British, Bradford (West Yorkshire)
England 111  male, 35, 1984, white British, Sheffield (South Yorkshire)
England 117  male, 37, 1985, white, Leeds (West Yorkshire)

 

Northwest

This includes the counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, and Merseyside. Some major cities are Manchester, Liverpool, Chester, Crewe, Macclesfield, Warrington, Barrow-in-Furness, Carlisle, Bolton, Wigan, Preston, Lancaster, Blackpool, and Blackburn. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 5  female, 50s, 1950s, white, Lancashire
England 9  female, 30s, 1968, white, Edgworth and Bolton (Lancashire)
England 10  female, 20s, 1980s, white, Manchester
England 14  female, 28, 1972, white, Blackpool and Liverpool
England 15  male, 34, 1966, white, Wigan (Lancashire)
England 16  male, 31, 1969, white, Liverpool
England 17  female, 51, 1959, white, Liverpool
England 18  female, 31, 1969, white, Liverpool
England 43  male, 34, 1967, mixed race, Salford (Manchester)
England 44  female, 31, 1970, white, Kirkdale (Liverpool) and Manchester
England 54  female, late 40s, 1950s, white, Salford (Lancashire)
England 60  male, 59, 1946, white, Wigan (Lancashire)
England 61  male, 27, 1978, Salford (Manchester)
England 71  male, 39, 1968, white, Timperley (Manchester)
England 73  female, 24, 1983, white, Levenshulme (Manchester) and London
England 92  female, 78, 1933, white, Manchester
England 98  female, 21, 1995, white, Liverpool
England 104  male, 33, 1984, white, Liverpool

 

Northeast

This region includes the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, County Durham, and North Yorkshire (part only). Some major cities are Newcastle, Sunderland, Tyneside, Wearside, Teesside, Durham, Darlington, Stockton-on-Tees, Middlesborough, and Hartlepool. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 13  female, 43, 1957, white, Newcastle (Tyne and Wear)
England 19  female, 39, 1960, white, Newcastle (Tyne and Wear)
England 20  female, 21, 1978, white, Sunderland (Tyne and Wear)
England 21  female, 21, 1979, white, Newcastle & N. Bard (Northumberland)
England 22  female, 22, 1978, white, Washington (Tyne and Wear)
England 23  male, 24, 1975, white, Washington (Tyne and Wear)
England 24  male, 22, 1978, white, Darlington (County Durham) & Lincolnshire
England 25  female, 19, 1981, white, Newcastle (Tyne and Wear)
England 26  female, 19, 1980, white, Gateshead (Tyne and Wear)
England 27  female, 20, 1979, white, Whitley Bay (Tyne and Wear)

 

Received Pronunciation and Miscellaneous

This group includes Standard British English (RP) speakers of unknown history and others who do not logically fit in any of the above regional categories. Please select a sample from the list below. For more demonstrations of RP, visit our Received Pronunciation Special Collection.

England 1  male, 50s, 1942, white, central and southern England
England 2  female, 20s, 1978, white
England 7  male, white
England 63  female, 1954, white, Surrey (and abroad)
England 64  female, 20, 1987, white, Bury (Manchester) and Germany

 

Samples in numerical order

This is a list of all England subjects in numerical, rather than geographical, order. Please select a sample from the list below.

England 1
England 2
England 3
England 4
England 5
England 6
England 7
England 8
England 9
England 10
England 11
England 12
England 13
England 14
England 15
England 16
England 17
England 18
England 19
England 20
England 21
England 22
England 23
England 24
England 25
England 26
England 27
England 28
England 29 (withdrawn)
England 30 (withdrawn)
England 31
England 32
England 33
England 34
England 35
England 36
England 37
England 38
England 39
England 40
England 41
England 42
England 43
England 44
England 45
England 46
England 47
England 48
England 49
England 50
England 51
England 52
England 53
England 54
England 55
England 56
England 57
England 58
England 59
England 60
England 61
England 62
England 63
England 64
England 65
England 66
England 67
England 68
England 69
England 70
England 71
England 72
England 73
England 74
England 75
England 76
England 77
England 78
England 79
England 80
England 81
England 82
England 83
England 84
England 85
England 86
England 87
England 88
England 89
England 90
England 91
England 92
England 93
England 94
England 95
England 96
England 97
England 98
England 99
England 100
England 101
England 102
England 103
England 104
England 105
England 106
England 107
England 108
England 109
England 110
England 111
England 112
England 113
England 114
England 115
England 116
England 117

For more information on the Estuary dialect, we suggest listening to the July 2020 edition of the In a Manner of Speaking podcast. And for information on Received Pronunciation, we suggest the November 2019 episode featuring renowned linguist David Crystal.