The architecture of England is the architecture of the historic Kingdom of England up to 1707, and of England since then, but is deemed to include buildings created under English influence or by English architects in other parts of the world, particularly in the English overseas possessions and the later British Empire, which developed into the present-day Commonwealth of Nations.

Apart from Anglo-Saxon architecture, the major non-vernacular forms employed in England before 1900 originated elsewhere in western Europe, chiefly in France and Italy, while 20th-century Modernist architecture derived from both European and American influences. Each of these foreign modes became assimilated within English architectural culture and gave rise to local variation and innovation, producing distinctive national forms. Among the most characteristic styles originating in England are the Perpendicular Gothic of the late Middle Ages, High Victorian Gothic and the Queen Anne style.

The earliest known examples of architecture in England are the megalithic tombs of the Neolithic, such as those at Wayland's Smithy and the West Kennet Long Barrow. These cromlechi are common over much of Atlantic Europe: present day Spain; Brittany; Great Britain; and Ireland. Radiocarbon dating has shown them to be, as historian John Davies says, "the first substantial, permanent constructions of man and that the earliest of them are nearly 1,500 years older than the first of the pyramids of Egypt." The Neolithic henges of Avebury and Stonehenge are two of the largest and most famous megalithic monuments in the world. The structure is an annual calendar, but the reason for the massive size is unknown with any certainty, suggestions include agriculture, ceremonial use and interpreting the cosmos. With other nearby sites, including Silbury Hill, Beckhampton Avenue, and West Kennet Avenue, they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site called Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites.

Numerous examples of Bronze Age and Iron Age architecture can be seen in England. Megalithic burial monuments, either individual barrows (also known, and marked on modern British Ordnance Survey maps, as Tumuli,) or occasionally cists covered by cairns, are one form. The other is the defensive earthworks known as hill forts, such as Maiden Castle and Cadbury Castle. Archaeological evidence suggests that British Iron Age domestic architecture had a tendency towards circular dwellings, known as roundhouses.

The Roman period brought the construction of the first large-scale buildings in Britain, but very little survives above ground besides fortifications. These include sections of Hadrian's Wall, Chester city walls and coastal forts such as those at Portchester, Pevensey and Burgh Castle, which have survived through incorporation into later castles. Other structures still standing include a lighthouse at Dover Castle, now part of a church. In most cases, only foundations, floors and the bases of walls attest to the structure of former buildings. Some of these were on a grand scale, such as the palace at Fishbourne and the thermae at Bath. The more substantial buildings of the Roman period adhered closely to the style of Roman structures elsewhere, although traditional Iron Age building methods remained in general use for humbler dwellings, especially in rural areas.

Architecture of the Anglo-Saxon period exists only in the form of churches, the only structures commonly built in stone apart from fortifications. The earliest examples date from the 7th century, notably at Bradwell-on-Sea and Escomb, but the majority from the 10th and 11th centuries. Due to the systematic destruction and replacement of English cathedrals and monasteries by the Normans, no major Anglo-Saxon churches survive; the largest extant example is at Brixworth.

The main material is ashlar masonry, sometimes accompanied by details in reused Roman brick. Anglo-Saxon churches are typically high and narrow and consist of a nave and a narrower chancel; these are often accompanied by a west tower. Some feature porticus (projecting chambers) to the west or to the north and south, creating a cruciform plan. Characteristic features include quoins in "long-and-short work" (alternating vertical and horizontal blocks) and small windows with rounded or triangular tops, deeply splayed or in groups of two or three divided by squat columns. The most common form of external decoration is lesene strips (thin vertical or horizontal strips of projecting stone), typically combined with blind arcading. Notable examples of this exist at Earls Barton, Bradford-on-Avon and Barton-upon-Humber.

In the 11th century the Normans were among Europe's leading exponents of Romanesque architecture, a style which had begun to influence English church building before 1066, but became the predominant mode in England with the huge wave of construction that followed the Norman Conquest. The Normans destroyed a large proportion of England's churches and built Romanesque replacements, a process which encompassed all of England's cathedrals. Most of the latter were later partially or wholly rebuilt in Gothic style, and although many still preserve substantial Romanesque portions, only Durham Cathedral remains a predominantly Romanesque structure (along with St Alban's and Southwell, abbey churches in the medieval period). Even Durham displays significant transitional features leading towards the emergence of Gothic. Romanesque churches are characterised by rounded arches, arcades supported by massive cylindrical piers, groin vaults and low-relief sculptural decoration. Distinctively Norman features include decorative chevron patterns.