The Beginnings of British History: Stone Age Britain Over thousands of years, groups of people came from the continent of Europe to Britain. The very first people were Stone hunters living all over Europe and the British Isles. It was about 2400 BC when the first farmers arrived in England from southern Europe; these are the people who built the mysterious monuments like Stonehenge. Then, about 1700 BC another group of taller and stronger invaders who used metal tools came from Holland and Germany. Like all the groups who invaded Britain throughout its early history, they married and mixed in with the native population.