Test your knowledge of North East England with our latest North East England quiz focusing on the history, geography and culture of the region.

1, Which place in the North East was known to the Romans as Arbeia meaning ‘place of the Arabs’? In Roman times it was home to a unit of bargemen from the River Tigris in what is now Iraq.

2, What is the name of the sculptor who created Tommy at Seaham and Fiddlers Green at North Shields?

3. Which North East comedian was known as ‘The Little Waster‘?

4. Who was the Norton-on-Tees born director of Quadrophenia and creator or Auf Wiedersehen Pet (which he pitched to Ian La Frenais)?  He also created TV’s Master Chef.

5, What was the name of the community venture situated in a County Durham town that was sometimes known as the Pitmen’s Academy? It unearthed and encouraged the talents of pitmen like the writer, Sid Chaplin and local artists Norman Cornish and Tom McGuinness.

6. What is the name of the river local to Ashington and Morpeth?

7. Which North East castle chillingly claims to be Britain’s most haunted?

8 .What was supposedly slain at Cleve’s Cross near Ferryhill by Hodge of Ferry around the year 1200?

9. Who was the author of De Temporum Ratione (The Reckoning of Time) that became the major influence for the way in which we still count our years today from the birth of Christ ?

10. What shapes feature on the ancient and mysterious prehistoric markings such as those found on Doddington Moor in north Northumberland?

11. Which famous entertainer and comedian once resided in Bishop Auckland and in North Shields’ Dockwray Square – where there is a statue to his honour?

12. What is the official name of the Lady of the North, a 44 acre landscape sculpture near Cramlington?

13. Where in the North East did King Cnut allegedly have his hair cut in the year 1031 before visiting St Cuthbert’s shrine at Durham?

14. What is the name of the Middlesbrough-born artist and former shipyard worker noted for his abstract art and ‘square sheep’?

15. In which Northumbrian dale can you find Otterburn?

16. In 1747 what did the Sedgefield vicar’s wife do to her deceased husband to ensure that she kept receiving payment for parish tithes?

17. Where on the North East coast would you find Sparrow Hall?

18. Which frequently altered Northumberland village-name provided the inspiration for a lengthy comedy routine by the comedian Stewart Lee?

19. What famous painting by Velazquez was housed for many years in a grand hall near Barnard Castle from which it took its name?

20. What are the names of the twin rivers with valleys just to the west of Durham City that join together near the town of Langley Moor before joining the River Wear near Croxdale?

21. Which North East city has a place-name that is thought to mean ‘separated land’?

22. Where would you find a monument to Jack Crawford, the hero of the Battle of Camperdown, nailing the colours to a ship’s mast?

23. The Prudhoe-born and Berwick-raised actor Henry Travers (1974-1965) is famous for playing which role in a black and white Christmas themed movie?

24. For what notorious activity was the Northumbrian village of Boulmer principally noted in the eighteenth and early nineteenth century?

25. Name the South Shields-born director (left)  whose movie credits include Blade Runner, Gladiator, Thelma and Louise, Blackhawk Down and Alien?

26. What links the crags on which Hadrian’s Wall stands, Bamburgh Castle rock, the Farne Islands and High Force waterfall in Teesdale?

27. What was the name of the Anglo-Saxon palace of King Edwin of Northumbria of which the outlines including an auditorium can be traced in aerial photographs in Glendale to the west of Wooler?

28. What is the surname of the Ryton-born folk duo sisters Rachel and Becky?

29. Hesleyside in North Tynedale was the principal seat of which North East border reiver clan?

30. Which famous North East MP, commemorated in song, once resided at Whitworth Hall near Spennymoor?

31. Alnwick, Sedgefield and at one time Chester-le-Street are linked by which February tradition?

32. Where was the Dean and Chapter Colliery located?

33. Which famous North East ship, built at Wallsend In 1907 captured the Blue Riband prize for her eastbound transatlantic voyage that was achieved during the maiden voyage return? She then went on to claim the same prize for the westbound journey across the Atlantic during 1909.

34. Segedunum was the Roman name for the fort in which North East town?

35. What remarkable discovery was found at Howick on the Northumberland coast in 1983?

36. In terms of national boundaries what is unusual about the course of the river called the Bowmont Water in North Northumberland.

37. What was the name of the Bishop of Durham who founded Durham University? He was also, technically, the last ‘Prince Bishop’.

38. What links names such as Shaftoe, Storey, Robson, Charlton, Heron, Milburn, Collingwood, Armstrong, Elliot, Fenwick, Forster, Ridley, Nixon, Potts and Pringle?

39. Which Northumberland village gave its name to the battle of 1018 which resulted in the loss of much Northumbrian territory and more or less established the border with Scotland as it exists today?

40. Brancepeth Castle near Durham, Raby Castle in Teesdale and Middleham Castle in Wensleydale in Yorkshire were the principal seats of which powerful northern family of medieval times?

Answers below

Answers

1. South Shields.
2. Ray Lonsdale.
3. Bobby Thompson.
4. Franc Roddam.
5. The Spennymoor Settlement.
6. River Wansbeck.
7. Chillingham.
8. The Brancepeth Brawn, a wild boar.
9. The Venerable Bede.
10. Cup and Ring markings.
11. Stan Laurel.
12. Northumberlandia.
13. Trimdon.
14. McKenzie Thorpe.
15. Redesdale.
16. She pickled him, to preserve his body and pretend he was still alive.
17. Cullercoats.
18. Shilbottle.
19. The Rokeby Venus.
20. The River Browney and River Deerness.
21. Sunderland.
22. Sunderland’s Mowbray Park.
23. Clarence the Angel in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’.
24. Smuggling.
25. Ridley Scott.
26. The Great Whin Sill.
27. Ad Gefrin (Yeavering).
28. Unthank.
29. The Charltons.
30. Bobby Shafto.
31. Shrove Tuesday football matches.
32. Ferryhill.
33. The Mauretania.
34. Wallsend.
35. Traces of a Stone Age house.
36. The river begins in Scotland then heads northward – yes northward – into England.
37. William Van Mildert.
38. They’re all Border Reiver surnames.
39. Carham on Tweed.
40. The Nevilles.