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Biggest Cities and Towns in England - 1377 AD

Can you name the most populous cities and towns in England in the year 1377?
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: June 4, 2019
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First submittedJune 4, 2019
Times taken21,298
Average score36.7%
Rating4.62
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Population
City or Town
23,314
London
7,248
York
6,345
Bristol
4,817
Coventry
3,952
Norwich
3,569
Lincoln
3,226
Salisbury
3,217
King's Lynn
2,955
Colchester
2,871
Boston
Population
City or Town
2,663
Beverley
2,647
Newcastle
2,574
Canterbury
2,445
Bury St Edmunds
2,357
Oxford
2,239
Gloucester
2,101
Leicester
2,083
Shrewsbury
1,941
Great Yarmouth
1,903
Hereford
Population
City or Town
1,902
Cambridge
1,772
Ely
1,700
Plymouth
1,560
Exeter
1,557
Kingston upon Hull
1,557
Worcester
1,507
Ipswich
1,477
Northampton
1,447
Nottingham
1,440
Winchester
+11
Level ∞
Oct 12, 2021
This was about 30 years after the Black Death. The population of England was just 2.5 million. But the population would continue to fall, reaching a nadir of just 1.9 million in 1450.

It's nice to realize how hard life use to be and how our modern problems are very small in comparison.

+11
Level 65
Jun 5, 2019
all of them are smaller than my town.
+27
Level 88
Jun 7, 2019
How big was your town in 1377 AD ?
+17
Level 79
Aug 23, 2019
They would all have been rather bigger 30 years earlier.
+2
Level 62
Mar 30, 2021
I live in a relativley small town and it is still larger than all of these.
+2
Level 55
Jun 6, 2019
Great quiz, thanks! Got 21, frustratingly difficult, but only annoyed I missed Leicester.
+1
Level 82
Aug 23, 2019
I got 9
+1
Level 75
Aug 24, 2019
Eleven here, but angry at self for missing at least seven more, including Salisbury - I need to read Edward Rutherford's Sarum again.
+4
Level 46
Aug 23, 2019
Enjoyed this one! Cathedrals, castles ans colleges hold many clues...
+1
Level 60
Aug 23, 2019
Really good quiz! Only managed 20 but really made me think
+8
Level 81
Aug 23, 2019
I got 21 all from naming towns in New England.
+2
Level 88
Aug 23, 2019
Same. I only had a handful until I figured out that old Massachusetts towns were named after old English towns. Weird way of getting them but it works . . .
+8
Level 62
Aug 23, 2019
Surprisingly difficult, even for an Englishman. So many of our biggest cities now were tiny before the industrial era, or at least the tudors.
+3
Level 80
Jan 23, 2020
Wow...number 8 and 10! Seriously, I was in number 8 on Sunday night and it can't be much bigger now, just with a Tesco and Sainsburys.
+1
Level 80
Nov 22, 2021
#8 now has a population of around 43k. So not a particularly big town by today's standards, but more than 13 times the size it was in 1377.
+1
Level 55
May 18, 2023
Well number 10 was a lovely town for the best part of another millenium and then some a-hole decided that it would be good idea to flatten some of it to make way for a rubbish shopping centre...............
+1
Level 43
Mar 9, 2020
why is the notre dame as the picture?
+6
Level 79
May 19, 2020
It's Lincoln Cathedral.
+3
Level 45
Nov 22, 2021
Blimey, it looks nothing like Notre Dame!
+2
Level 70
Jun 3, 2022
blimey 😂
+2
Level 72
Apr 4, 2020
Going for the '...cester' and '...chester's seemed a good plan. But not for Chester itself! No Manchester either, I wonder why? Looking on wikipedia there are 30 odd Manchesters in the US alone, there's even one in Bolivia incredibly.
+3
Level 55
Apr 17, 2020
many northern cities only really became wel-populated during the industrial revolution when manufacturing took hold
+1
Level 70
Nov 21, 2021
Interestingly, there are a lot of cities and towns from East Anglia in these 30. I doubt if there would be one in top 30 today, other than Norwich of course.
+2
Level 65
Dec 8, 2022
It's the trade with the Low Countries mainly. East coast ports were very prosperous.
+2
Level 68
Oct 15, 2020
There are loads of "chesters/casters/cesters" because the word comes from the Roman "castrum" which was a military camp or fort. They were known for building lots of these!
+1
Level 68
Nov 8, 2020
Very much enjoyed this, challenging for a native whose mediaeval history is a bit weak but managed 21 by cathedrals, colleges and camps! Hats off to the non-Brits who scored so highly.
+1
Level 56
Nov 23, 2020
Beverley! I would never have guessed that :-S
+1
Level 60
Nov 30, 2020
I got some from guessing the subdivisions in England, and then some towns in New England. Also, Boston is a place in the UK?! What!
+2
Level 45
Nov 22, 2021
Considering that a huge amount of places in New England are named after places in England, is it really a surprise that Boston, Mass. is named after a place in England as well?
+4
Level 70
Nov 21, 2021
Aren't you forgetting Milton Keynes???
+1
Level 71
Nov 21, 2021
Holy crap, I'm from the UK and I could hardly get 20. Bloomin' 'ell
+1
Level 23
Jul 21, 2022
And he's dunnit lads

30/30 and im only 13

+1
Level 82
Feb 1, 2023
King’s Lynn was known as Bishop’s Lynn until 1537.