William Blake gave his voice to the nation, at least we can save his hut

Times of discover News: Officially, England has no national anthem. Instead, English people are expected to sing the British national anthem God Salve the King, regardless of their views on the monarchy. Unofficially, however, Jerusalem is indeed recognised as an English song. What's special about it is that its status is not formed by a decision made at a high level, but by the choices of the people of England. They saw a consensus, which was that many people felt a unique connection with that song. Its grassroots location makes it a truer national anthem than any other.

This unique status comes partly due to William Blake being a rare unifying voice in English and British culture. Jerusalem was sung at both Conservative and Labour party conferences, by the Women's Institute and the England cricket team, and by Etonian schoolchildren as well as socialist folk singers like Billy Bragg. Of course, many such appeals are not widespread. This puts Jerusalem in a very small category of things that the British take for granted, like Shakespeare, cups of tea and chips.

The situation is similar in the world of football. As its composer Ian Broudie said, the English FA did not want the Three Lions to be sung. On the contrary, fans have made it the unofficial anthem of the English national teams. What Jerusalem and the Three Lions have in common is that neither of them has won. Instead, the message of both songs is that we can and should be better. It is an idea that is supported by people on the right and the left, religious and non-religious. That the British people chose these two songs over the pompous and pompous national anthems offered by those in power tells us something important about the true nature of the British.

Still, despite how gleefully the flag-waving audience sang Jerusalem on the last night of the Proms, the powers that be were never entirely comfortable with Blake. Although they could appreciate his visionary nature, they were not comfortable with how radical he was. The words for Jerusalem were originally Milton's preface, which strongly condemned the "ignorant tenants" of "Camp, Court and University". In Blake's eyes, a big part of the problem is that the establishment is not good enough. He represents a sheltered class, lacking foresight and genius. This means that only the vivid imaginations of the people can imagine a better alternative. Looking back at the last decade of recent history, this criticism seems as relevant as ever.

On 19 July 2024 a public meeting was held at Felpham Community College, where the brand new board of the Blake Cottage Trust presented their plans to preserve the cottage. The Trust and its ambassadors are all volunteers, and they are an eclectic group, including town planners, trade unionists, heritage craftsmen and artists. Their mentor is Bruce Dickinson, who is currently touring around the world as the lead singer of Iron Maiden. If they are to secure a long-term sustainable future for the building, they will need the support of the local community as well as the global community of Blake enthusiasts.

One might expect that a nationally significant building would automatically protect the country, and it seems symbolic that the country's current situation has become such. Yet, in a way it is also fitting when volunteers come together, offering their skills, time and hard work to save, for no other reward than we could have imagined before, and then create a better way. Once again it was due to the genuine support of the people, not the acceptance of power, that William Blake's words survived.