Q: WHY do many place names end in wick. Also, what is the origin of the name Edmundbyers? - W Sewell, Bishop Auckland.

A: Place names ending in wick can sometimes be Viking if they derive from the old Scandinavian word vik, meaning creek or bay. However, this is only likely in the Viking settled area of England called the Danelaw - Yorkshire, the East Midlands and East Anglia. Wick was used by the Anglo-Saxons to mean port, or a place with a specific trading or manufacturing purpose. But industry is not always indicated in the name of these places. Alnwick, for example, is named after the River Aln, while Hunwick, belonged to an Anglo-Saxon called Huna.

As for your question on Edmundbyers, my understanding is that it was named after farm buildings that belonged to an Anglo-Saxon called Eadmund.

Q: RE the recent question on early steel structures. In 1986, I worked on the rebuilding of the Palm House at Kew Gardens, which was completely dismantled and rebuilt. I feel that I read a plaque claiming this to be the world's first steel building, probably bigger than any store in Hartlepool at that time. Was this a fact? - John Curry, Hartlepool.

A: THE original Palm House at Kew was built in 1844-1848 by the architect Decimus Burton, with an Irish iron founder, Richard Turner. The entire structure was built of iron rather than steel. Burton had intended to use heavy cast iron arches, but Turner made the innovative suggestion of using wrought iron deck beam instead, the kind of iron used in shipbuilding and enabling greater width over unsupported areas. By the 1950s, some renovation of the building took place, but in the mid 1980s, it was decided that the building should be completely dismantled for repair. Arches were strengthened in mild steel and stainless steel used in the glazing bars.

The steel-framed building erected by Basil Scott of Redpath Brown, in Lynn Street West, Hartlepool in 1896 was believed to be the first steel-framed building in Britain, but there is some debate about it being the first in the world. Willis Collins, of Belmont, Durham has written to say that the first steel-framed building in the world was built in Chicago in 1890. He also says that long before steel frames were used in the construction of buildings, iron frames were often used. According to Mr Collins, these early iron-framed buildings have been described by the British Association for the Advancement of Science as the forerunners of the skyscraper.

Published: Monday, December 3, 2001

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