Answer: 11 November

Martinmas is a Christian feast that commemorates the fourth-century saint Martin of Tours, who is the patron saint of beggars, drunks and the poor. In the Middle Ages this was traditionally a time for feasting, to celebrate the end of autumn and the start of winter preparations.

Answer: Between the two uprights of the tallest trilithon, at the head of the sarsen horseshoe

It would then have dropped down into the Altar Stone, a sandstone block which was placed across the solstice axis. Today, this effect has been lost because one half of the trilithon has fallen at some point in the history of the monument. Analysis of a laser survey of Stonehenge has shown that those stones that frame the solstice axis were the most carefully worked and shaped using hammerstones, creating vertical sides that framed the movement of the sun.

Answer: Tresco, on the Isles of Scilly

Cromwell’s Castle was built in 1651 and replaced a Tudor blockhouse on the site, as well as superseding King Charles’s Castle. The castle guarded one of the main routes of entry to the heart of the islands and the deep water approach to New Grimsby harbour. No fleet could hope to land troops on this side of Tresco unless it had first destroyed or captured the castle, but the chances of destroying the castle by gunfire from the sea were very slim.

Answer: Warkworth Castle

Warkworth Castle was the favoured residence of the powerful Percy family from the 14th to the 17th centuries. As the Earls (and later Dukes) of Northumberland, they were among the greatest landowners in northern England. After the unsuccessful attempt to blow up the Houses of Parliament, Thomas Percy died of a bullet wound during a last stand against soldiers at Holbeach House on 8 November.

Answer: Little wax or pottery figures

Saturnalia lasted at least five days and honoured Saturn, chief of the Roman gods. It was a time where conventions were turned upside down – masters served slaves and slaves had time off. As well as sigillaria, popular presents included satirical presents, songs or poems.

Answer: Mischief Night

Mischief Night involved dressing up in disguises and costumes and knocking on the doors of neighbours, making ghostly noises and then running away. The naughty boys and girls carried glowing lanterns while making their mischief.

Answer: Plough Monday

As well as marking the end of the 12 days of Christmas, Plough Monday was the start of the agricultural year. Equipment such as ploughs were often blessed to ensure a fruitful year and ‘plough candles’ were burned in churches to bring blessings to farmers.

Answer: A coin or a dried bean – whoever had it became king or queen of the evening’s entertainment

Other festive symbolic Tudor food included mince pies made with 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and the disciples. These included mutton to represent the shepherds.

Answer: Cinnamon

The spices used to flavour traditional Victorian mince pies were nutmeg and pounded mace. Other ingredients included grated lemons, suet, raisins and candied peel.

Answer: Ilex aquifolium

This translates to ‘with pointed leaves’, even though some of the 200-plus varieties of holly don’t have any prickles. Darwin wrote: 'We cannot decorate our Christmas hearths with the scarlet berries of the Holly, because bees were rare during the spring.'

Answer: 1944

By 1944, the risk from aerial raids was no longer seen to be a threat, so churches were allowed to use festive lights for the first time in five years.

Answer: Ben Jonson

Ben Jonson’s play Christmas, His Masque contains a character who’s the personification of Christmas. This figure continued to represent the English spirit of Christmas until Santa Claus arrived from the USA in the 19th century and the two figures merged.

Answer: New Year’s Day

As well as exchanging gifts between friends and family, the monarch also expected lavish presents from courtiers. The master of the Jewel House would record all the gifts that were given and received, which were then transferred on to ‘gift rolls’ – paper or vellum documents that were stored in the Jewel House.

Answer: It popularised Christmas trees in England

While Victoria and Albert weren't the first royals to put up what we know today as a Christmas tree (this honour goes to George III’s wife Queen Charlotte), they’re closely linked to the tradition because they were illustrated standing beside a decorated tree with their children. The engraving was published in the press in the 1840s and meant that people across the country started putting up their own decorated trees.

Answer: 2 February

Falling exactly 40 days after Christmas, Candlemas (or the Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary) was observed as the official end of Christmas in medieval England. The date itself was a great feast day and is so-called because candles intended to be used in churches in the coming year would be blessed on that day. There were also candlelit processions in honour of the feast. Evidence that decorations were kept up until the evening before Candlemas is well documented, and Christmas cribs remain in place in many churches until Candlemas.

Answer: From east to west

Each family member was supposed to stir the mixture from east to west to honour the journey of the Magi. This ritual was also thought to bring the family luck in the coming year.

Answer: Nut-Crack Night

On Nut-Crack Night, nuts bearing the names of unmarried men and women were tossed into a fire, their behaviour telling the fortune of a marriage. Quiet burning was a good sign, but if the nuts cracked and leapt apart in the flames the courtship would be less smooth.

Answer: Palm crosses from the previous year’s Palm Sunday celebrations

The first day of Lent in the Christian tradition, Ash Wednesday is marked by prayer and fasting. The cross is a symbol of repentance and is drawn on participants’ foreheads by a priest or vicar during the Ash Wednesday service.

Answer: Corn dollies

Corn dollies are figures or shapes made from the last sheaf of corn that’s harvested. Places around England have their own traditions and ceremonies associated with this custom, such as the ceremonial burning of Straw Jack in Carshalton, Surrey.

Answer: The ashen faggot

The ashen faggot is a bundle of ash sticks tied up with nine bands of green ash. It was thrown on the fire, and as each band burst, people toasted the faggot with a drink. Several pubs in the West Country still keep this tradition alive.