Durham Quiz

How well do you know your Durham history? Below are ten questions to test your knowledge.

1. How old is Durham Cathedral?

About 300 years old
About 600 years old
About 900 years old
None of the above.

2. Remains of which of these great English saints are buried in Durham Cathedral?

St Oswald
St Cuthbert
St Thomas Becket
The Venerable Bede.

3. Who used Durham Castle as their main palace?

Durham's Prince Bishops
The kings of England
The Neville Family
None of the above.

4. Which of these powers did Durham's Prince Bishops have in medieval times?

The power to raise an army
The power to mint their own coins
The power to set up their own law courts
The power to choose the kings of England.

5. Durham's own Dick Whittington, Sir John Duck, make his fortune as what?

A butcher
A baker
A candlestick maker
None of the above.

6. Which one or more of the following lived in the City of Durham?

The hobbit, Bilbo Baggins
The boxing champion and MP, John Gully
The Polish dwarf, 'Count' Joseph Boruwlaski
The former poet laureate, Sir John Betjeman.

7. What does the statue of King Neptune in Durham's Market Place commemorate?

An earlier time when the City of Durham was a coastal port
A failed scheme to build a canal linking Durham to the sea
The period when King Neptune lived in Durham Castle
None of the above.

8. Which one or more of the following were important industries in the City of Durham in earlier times?

Coal mining
Carpet weaving
Mustard making
Soft drinks manufacture.

9. What was the 'Death Chair'?

A medieval electric chair
A sedan chair used to carry convicts to the gallows
A sedan chair used at Durham School to carry sick students
None of the above.

10. Which one or more of the following are UNESCO World Heritage Sites?

York Minster
Durham Castle and Cathedral
The Old and New Towns of Edinburgh
Hadrian's Wall and other Frontiers of the Roman Empire.