Answer: B Strawberries

The Vegetable Seller is a beautiful and somewhat mysterious painting in the collection at Audley End, a Jacobean mansion in the Essex countryside. A large work on canvas, it depicts an impressive array of fruit, vegetables and edible flowers, displayed in abundance in various bowls and baskets, almost spilling out of the painting. Surrounded by this striking presentation sits a lone female figure looking intently out at the viewer, perhaps a kitchen maid or a market stall seller. After many months of conservation, the painting was returned to Audley End in 2021.

Answer: Sir Thomas Lawrence

Wellington disliked sitting for portraits but he respected Lawrence and they became friends. Painted in 1817, the oil painting depicts Wellington in full military uniform, staring imperiously from the canvas. It was commissioned as a gift for a lady, Marianne Patterson, a wealthy American heiress whom Wellington greatly admired.

Answer: Corbridge Roman Town in Northumberland

During 350 years under Roman occupation, Corbridge Roman Town near Hadrian’s Wall grew from a military outpost into a bustling, cosmopolitan town with its own local identity. The exquisite sculpted lion discovered at the site in 1907 is the best preserved of five lion statues from Corbridge. The detailed carving depicts a male lion ferociously pouncing on its prey – the identity of which has confused sculptural experts. The horns and ears would suggest the sculptor was depicting a sheep or goat, but the size in comparison to the lion is that of a cow.

Answer: Kenwood

Considered to be one of the world's greatest masterpieces, this detailed painting is often cited as being Rembrandt’s definitive self-portraits out of the 80 or so he created during his career. Painted later in his life, when he was impoverished and alone, the painting shows the artist in his studio wearing working clothes – a fur-trimmed gown and white linen cap – and holding the tools of his trade. The two enigmatic circles in the background have puzzled people for centuries, and there is still no definitive answer as to their meaning or significance.

Answer: Marble sculptures of her children’s limbs

Wanting a memento of her children and to capture their fleeting infancy, Queen Victoria commissioned a series of marble sculptures of their hands, feet or limbs. The pure white marble sculptures were made using plaster casts and then presented on crimson velvet cushions kept under glass domes. She also commissioned jewellery made from her children’s milk teeth.

Answer: Roaring Meg is the only surviving Civil War mortar in England and can be found at Goodrich Castle in Herefordshire

When Civil War broke out between King Charles I and Parliament in 1642, many castles that hadn’t seen action since the Middle Ages were pressed into service for one side or the other. Goodrich Castle was one of them, and soon became a Royalist stronghold. In June and July 1646 it was the scene of one of the most hard-fought sieges of the conflict. Parliament finally won with the aid of a huge mortar, Roaring Meg, reducing the castle to the picturesque ruin that survives today.

Answer: The Uffizi, Florence

Bought by Julius Wernher in 1897, Madonna of the Pomegranate (Madonna della Melagrana) shows a pensive Mary holding Christ as a baby and surrounded by four angels. The pomegranate is symbolic of the future suffering of Christ. The version in the Wernher Collection was thought to be a later imitation of the c1487 masterpiece, but X-ray testing, infrared studies and pigment analysis have shown that it did come from Botticelli’s workshop in Florence. It is impossible to tell, however, how much input Botticelli himself had into this version, as multiple assistants were employed to help with his paintings.

• A - A pair of sugar tongs
• B - A dress lifter
• C - A torture device

Answer: B - a dress lifter

Dating from between 1840 and 1899, this copper alloy dress lifter was used to stop skirt hems from getting muddy and also to display decorative petticoats. Norham was a popular site for wealthy people to promenade around

Answer: The Duke of Wellington

In the early 1800s Arthur Wellesley, then Viscount Wellington, asked his shoemaker to make boots in this style because they were easier to wear with trousers. After his victory over Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815, Wellington's boots achieved the status of must-have fashionable footwear and duly became known as 'Wellingtons'. This particular pair is made of soft calfskin, polished black, with tan soles. Walmer Castle is also home to the Duke’s campaign bed (originally a piece of furniture that was used on the battlefield) and his death mask, created by portrait sculptor George Gammon Adams.

Answer: A holy relic believed to be a portion of the blood of Christ

While in Germany in 1268, Edmund, son of Earl Richard of Cornwall, the founder of Hailes, obtained what was believed to be a portion of the blood shed by Christ on the Cross – the Holy Blood, which was held within a crystal container. A 16th-century seal, used to grant admission to the abbey’s confraternity (or brotherhood), gives us the best impression of what the relic would have looked like. A priest is depicted holding an orb with a cross on top, which contains the Holy Blood of Hailes.

Answer: Indoor exercise

Invented by Dr Haydock Wilbe in 1912, the ‘Haydock’s Horse’ was a model of a horse with springs to mimic the movement of a real horse and allow people to exercise in the comfort of their own home. It was bolted to the floor to stop the rider falling off. It’s believed that Charles or Augustus Thellusson, the owners of Brodsworth, would have bought this to help them keep fit as they got older

Answer: Costrel

It’s thought that this sculpture showed how the monks in the abbey were required to support members of the local community by giving them bread and ale. Mulcheney Abbey was mostly destroyed after the Dissolution of the monasteries in 1538, with only the abbot’s lodging surviving. This is where objects found during excavations in the 1870s are now displayed.

Answer: William Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s poem was published in 1593, and tells the story of goddess Venus’s unrequited love for Adonis and his tragic end during a hunting accident. It was dedicated to Henry Wriothesley, third Earl of Southampton.

Answer: Lindisfarne Priory

Dating from the 9th century, the Viking raider stone possibly commemorates the first Viking raid on the Anglo-Saxon monastery of Lindisfarne in AD 793. One face is carved with a sun, moon, two hands and two praying figures around a cross, which may refer to Doomsday. The other face has a procession of armed men bearing axes and swords.

Answer: It’s made of leather

Made specifically for the room in the 1930s, this leather map shows Eltham Palace in the centre, with local landmarks such as the Crystal Palace and the Royal Naval College also depicted. It was assembled by sewing together many small square pieces of leather. It’s part of the larger Map Room, whose walls were adorned with maps from around the globe, along with murals depicting everything from St Paul's Cathedral in London to Santa in his sleigh. The maps and murals had been covered over with wallpaper after the Courtaulds left Eltham in 1945, but they underwent extensive conservation work in 2015 and are now on show to the public.

Answer: Henrietta Howard, 9th Countess of Suffolk

Henrietta Howard was an influential courtier and patron of the 18th century. Her London home Marble Hill was inspired by a Palladian villa and furnished in the fashions of the day, including blue and white porcelain and lacquer furniture. The contents of the house were dispersed before the property came into public ownership in 1902, although some have made their way back. The paintings, furniture and porcelain on display in the house today still evoke the 18th-century love of east Asia, and suit Henrietta Howard’s taste and status.

Answer: Sir Godfrey was the model for William the Conqueror

Sir Godfrey commissioned this large-scale painting from Francis William Wilkin (1791–1842), who specialised in portrait miniatures and engravings. It was rediscovered in 1939, badly damaged, in a local museum. English Heritage conserved and rehung it in 2002, and it’s hung in the great hall, the location for which it was originally intended, which is now part of Battle Abbey School.

Answer: A hard purple volcanic rock

Porphyry was a highly prized material in 16th-century Italy, and Roman columns and sculptures were reused to create new pieces such as these vases. They were bought by the owner and architect of Chiswick House, Lord Burlington, when he was on a Grand Tour of Europe in 1715. Lord Burlington was known as ‘the Apollo of the arts’, as he was one of the greatest 18th-century patrons and art collectors. He hung so many paintings inside the house that they almost obscured the velvet wall hangings.

Answer: Charles Darwin

Darwin commissioned a local carpenter to install the slide soon after moving to Down House in Kent. While it was principally for the amusement of his 10 children, there are records of Darwin’s wife Emma and the children’s governess also having a go. The slide is still in place today.

Answer: Germany

Dating from the 3rd century AD, the stone arch came from a temple built by the Frisians. It features a figure of Mars in the centre, holding a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left. The figures in the side panels are naked and cross-legged; both hold a raised torch in one hand and a large wreath in the other. It’s possible that they are wingless cupids. In this context they could symbolise victory in battle under the protection of Mars Thincsus. The arch is now on display at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum.