How Much Do You Know About Dorchester?

The following quizzes are for those who like them easy and then for those who like them more challenging.

Answers at the bottom of each quiz.

Easy Quiz

1. Dorchester is the county town of which English county?
2. What river flows through Dorchester?
3. Dorchester was an important town during which ancient civilisation?
4. What was Dorchester known as in Roman times?
5. Which famous English author had strong links to Dorchester?
6. What fictional name did that author give to Dorchester in his novels?
7. Which place of captivity in Dorchester is now partly used as a museum?
8. What large prehistoric monument lies just outside Dorchester?
9. Dorchester is in which region of England?
10. What is the name of the main hill fort overlooking Dorchester?
11. Which annual agricultural show is traditionally associated with Dorchester?
12. Which poet has had a statue recently unveiled in South Street?
13. Which coast is Dorchester relatively close to?
14. What colour is often associated with the local stone used in buildings around Dorchester?
15. What railway line connects Dorchester to London?
16. Dorchester is roughly halfway between which two Dorset seaside towns?
17. What tradition on a Wednesday has Dorchester had for centuries?
18. What sport is commonly played at the nearby Avenue Stadium?
19. Is Dorchester best described as a city, town, or village?
20. What is the nearest coastal town to Dorchester?

Answers

1. Dorset
2. The River Frome
3. The Romans
4. Durnovaria
5. Thomas Hardy
6. Casterbridge
7. Dorchester Prison
8. Maumbury Rings
9. South West England
10. Maiden Castle
11. The Dorset County Show
12. Sylvia Townsend Warner
13. The English Channel (Jurassic Coast)
14. Cream or light yellow
15. The South Western Main Line
16. Weymouth and Bridport
17. A weekly market
18. Football (also accepts sports/leisure activities)
19. A town
20. Weymouth

Hard Quiz

1. What Iron Age tribe inhabited the Dorchester area before the Roman conquest?
2. What was the full Roman name of Dorchester, meaning “fort of the Durotriges”?
3. Which Roman road linked Dorchester to Exeter?
4. Maiden Castle was abandoned soon after the arrival of which invading force?
5. What was the original purpose of Maumbury Rings before Roman modification?
6. Which local 19th-century group is widely accepted to be the catalyst for the trade union movement?
7. What event in 1685 led to Dorchester Prison becoming notorious?
8. Which architect designed much of Poundbury, the urban extension west of Dorchester?
9. Poundbury was developed under the patronage of which British monarch (then Prince)?
10. What is the name of the parish church located near the town centre with a distinctive spire?
11. Which Hardy novel opens with a public execution in Dorchester?
12. What was the name of Dorchester’s medieval leper hospital?
13. Which geological period is most associated with the stone used in Dorchester’s historic buildings?
14. What is the historical relationship between Dorchester and Methodism?
15. What is the name of the Roman amphitheatre site south of the town centre?
16. Which two railway stations serve Dorchester today?
17. Dorchester lies at the junction of which two major rivers?
18. What was the main industry of Dorchester in the medieval period?
19. Which military regiment was historically associated with the Dorchester area barracks?
20. What does Dorchester lack that prevents it from becoming a city?

Answers

1. The Durotriges
2. Durnovaria
3. The Fosse Way
4. The Romans
5. A Neolithic henge or ceremonial enclosure
6. The Tolpuddle Martyrs
7. The Bloody Assizes
8. Leon Krier
9. King Charles III
10. St Peter’s Church
11. The Mayor of Casterbridge
12. St Giles’ Hospital
13. Jurassic (or Upper Jurassic)
14. It was an early centre of Methodist preaching and organisation
15. Maumbury Rings
16. Dorchester South and Dorchester West
17. The River Frome and the River South Winterborne
18. Wool and cloth production
19. The Dorsetshire Regiment
20. Cathedral and/or University

How did you do?

36-40—Wizard

30-35—Good

Under 30—You should read more