‘Migration’ is when a person permanently re-locates from one country to another.

‘Religious pluralism’ is when more than one religion is practised within the same group of people (e.g. when Muslims and Christians both live in the same city).

Here we consider how migration led to religious pluralism in modern Britain.

The Mediaeval Period

For hundreds of years, there was little religious pluralism in Britain.

Nearly everyone belonged to the Catholic Church.

The Early Modern Period

This changed with the Protestant Reformation, which introduced multiple forms of Christianity into Britain.

It changed even more so with the Toleration Act of 1689, which introduced the idea that multiple forms of Christianity could co-exist in the same country.

This created the legal framework for multiple religions to co-exist.

The Nineteenth Century

In the nineteenth century, the British Empire took control of parts of Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.

By linking together different parts of the world, the British Empire made it easier for non-Christian people to come to Britain.

Many came for work or study, and some stayed and built new lives.

They brought their religions with them, and so some parts of Britain began to experience religious pluralism for the first time.

Catholics, Jews, and Muslims were the largest groups of immigrants in this period.

The first mosques in Britain were built from the end of the nineteenth century.

The Twentieth Century

After the Second World War, large numbers of people from India and Africa immigrated to the UK.

The number of mosques grew quickly, and the first Hindu temples were built.

The Hindu population grew particularly quickly after Indian Independence (1947) and East African independence (1960s–70s). 

Today, many cities in the UK have significant Muslim and Hindu populations, and major population centres (like London) have representatives from nearly ALL the world’s religions.