did the custom of decorating trees at Christmas started in England in the 1700s?

Answer 1

Actually it started with a combination of spreding the Christian religion and ancient Roman beliefs. Early Christians believed certain trees flowered unseasonably on Christmas Eve as homage to Jesus’ birth. This belief combined with the Roman practice of decorating their homes with greenery for the New Year formed the basis of our modern days Christmas.

The decorating of various structures and trees has been recorded in Europe from the 17th century on, but the first written account of a “Christmas tree” did not appear until 1605. According to John Matthew’s The Winter Solstice, an anonymous German citizen that year recorded trees being decorated with “roses cut out of many colored paper, apples, wafers, gold-foil, [and] sweets”.
It was more than 100 years later when Professor Karl Gottfried Kissling of the University of Wittenburg wrote of people adding candles for decorations and placing children’s wrapped branches around the bottom of the small indoor trees.

Even though the practice was initially condemned by religious leaders, it spread from Germany to Finland through Norway and Denmark. In 1840, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert of England endorsed the tradition by displaying their own ornately decorated tree at their palace. By the early 1900s, decorating the tree was as much a part of Christmas as Santa Claus and opening presents.

Answer 2

No, the custom of decorating
trees and hanging gifts, did not
originate in England.

It originated in Bethalham, during
the 1st Century ADs' first Christmas.

There are no evidences to prove this
, but the Vaticans maintain this.

Answer 3

According to the following websites, it started in the 1600's in Germany:
http://www.christmas-tree.com/where.html
http://www.theholidayspot.com/christmas/history/xmas_tree.htm