"English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: A rhotic (pronounced /ˈroʊtɨk/) speaker pronounces the letter R in hard and water. A non-rhotic speaker does not pronounce it in hard, and may not in water, or may only pronounce it in water if the following word begins with a vowel." - Amit Patel from Bookmarklet

Useful for me in London! Thanks. - Clay B.

A Scottish accent is also rhotic. - Paul Grav

I use the R loads more than most people, meaning I get called posh a lot. I'm not, I just pronounce my words properly. I speak the Queens English don't you know. - Toby Graham

Toby: Really? R in the rhotic sense? The Queen's English (Received Pronunciation) is non-rhotic. In England I think it's usually the case that the more someone pronounces the _written_ letter R, the less posh they sound. For example, the rural and farming West Country accents tend to be full of pronounced Rs, whereas the typical posh English way of saying the written letter R in "ardent" and "water" is non-rhotic: "ah-dunt" and "wore-ta". From the wiki article: "The prestige form, however, exerts a steady pressure towards non-rhoticity. Thus the urban speech of, say, Bristol or Southampton is more accurately described as variably rhotic, the degree of rhoticity being reduced as one moves up the class and formality scales." Perhaps you're instead referring to the long-A: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki... - Simon