The Heritage Quiz

Test your knowledge with our mini heritage quiz.

Select each question to reveal the answer.

• 1. What is the name of the Buckinghamshire site that housed codebreakers during the Second World War?

  Answer: Bletchley Park

  The Government Code and Cypher School's central site was so effective in cracking the German Enigma and Lorenz cyphers and intercepting top secret Axis messages, that it's been estimated that the war was shortened by two to four years. It's at Bletchley that brilliant mathematicians Alan Turing and Gordon Welchman designed the 'bombe' device for deciphering Enigma, and earned the former the title 'the father of computing'.

• 2. How many years did it take for Sir Francis Drake to complete the first circumnavigation of the globe in 1580?

  Answer: Three years

  Though the second person to circumnavigate the world in one expedition, the legendary seafarer was the first to do as captain for the entire duration - the first from 1519 to 1522 saw Ferdinand Magellan killed and succeeded by Juan Sebastián Elcano.

  On the orders of Elizabeth I, Drake departed from Plymouth aboard the Pelican in 1577, reaching the southern tip of South America where the Drake Passage now bears his name. He then sailed up the west coast of the American continent, before heading back to England via Indonesia and the Cape of Good Hope, with some looted Spanish gold in tow and a new name for his ship, the Golden Hind.

• 3. What part of a building was taxed from 1696 and repealed in 1851?

  Answer: Window

  The window tax was exactly what is said on the tin, where properties with six or more windows were taxed. It was easy to assess as collectors could simply look at a house from the street and see how much to levy on the building's owner. While some built lavish houses with many windows to demonstrate their wealth, many homeowners simply bricked up their windows in an effort to pay less, with theories suggesting this is the origin of the term 'daylight robbery'.

• 4. Which city was the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex?

  Answer: Winchester

  The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex, East Anglia, Mercia and Northumbria were united under the English banner by Æthelstan in the 10th century, with the most southerly and powerful, Wessex, remaining the final Anglo-Saxon stronghold after the Viking invasion of 865 AD. Though Æthelstan's father, Alfred the Great, held court at various towns across Wessex, Winchester was described as the "premier city of the West Saxon kingdom".

• 5. What is name of the Englishman whyo translated the Bible into English?

  Answer: John Wycliffe

  The Yorkshireman was a prominent voice of dissent in the 14th century, attacking the privileges, power and pomp of the clergy and arguing that the Bible should be made available in the native English tongue. So committed was he to the latter, that he and his associates translated both testaments into Middle English between 1382 and 1384. His following and legacy would be important in the Reformation two centuries later.

• 6. What's the better-known name given to the Great Rising of 1381?

  Answer: Peasants' Revolt

  Tensions were high in England following the Black Death and an increase in taxes to fund the Hundred Years' War, and when official John Bampton's attempt to collect unpaid taxes led to violence, it sparked revolt across the South East.

  A mob, led by Wat Tyler, set fire to buildings and killed royal officials in London, leading the 14-year-old Richard II to meet their demands, which included the unfair practice of serfdom. The young king met the rebels on 13 June, speaking to them in their own English tongue, however, violence broke out and Tyler was killed. Eventually the mob was dispersed and Richard II rescinded on his promises.

• 7. Which country did Britain fight in the War of Jenkin's Ear?

  Answer: Spain

  The mainly-naval conflict was fought between the two European empires from 1739 to 1748 due to various attempts at expansion into each other's territories, but got its name due to an incident in 1731 off the coast of Florida.

  The British brig Rebecca was boarded by Spaniards, who cut off the ear of the captain Robert Jenkins after accusing him of being a smuggler. After recounting his tale seven years later, Parliament concluded that it was an insult, however, it did not lead to the war - in fact the conflict was not referred to as the War of Jenkins' Ear until 110 years after it had finished.

• 8. Which two wives did Henry VIII divorce?

  Answer: Catherine of Aragon and Anne of Cleves

  The rhyme 'Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived' is an easy way to remember what became of Henry VIII's six wives. He divorced his first, Catherine, after she failed to produce a son and also so he could marry Anne Boleyn. He found his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, so unattractive that he had the marriage annulled after only six months.

• 9. Which Roman road stretched 220 miles from Exeter to Lincoln?

  Answer: Fosse Way

  The road originally marked the western boundary of the Roman expansion into Britain, and given its name, Latin for 'ditch', it may have been a defensive fortification that was later turned into a road. Many sections of the road are still in use.

• 10. The charge of the light brigade took place during which 19th-century battle?

  Answer: Battle of Balaclava

  Although Britain and its ally France were victorious in the Crimean War, the  Charge of the Light Brigade has gone down as one of history's great military blunders. Miscommunication led to a small force of light cavalry to charge along a well-defended valley and into a Russian artillery battery. The 670-strong brigade suffered over 250 casualties.

Guess the Castle

Can you guess which English Heritage property is pictured?

1. The castle was captured by the Scots in both 1315 and 1346.

2. Originally built as a two-storey home, its owner Robert de Reymes began to add battlements and defences from 1296 onwards.

3. It served as a farm from the 1600s until 1966.

• And the answer is...

  AYDON CASTLE

  Almost completely intact, it is one of the finest and most unaltered examples of a 13th century English manor house. Set in a beautiful and secluded Northumberland woodland, it was originally built as an undefended residence, later became a farmhouse in the 17th century and was lived in up until 1966.

  Find out more about Aydon Castle