MODERN places like Peterlee have names given to them by government bodies or town planners. Some aren't very imaginative, which is why we have so many places called Newton, like Newton Aycliffe. Were place names of ancient times given names by official bodies or did they just evolve? - Chris Parker, Peterlee.

IT IS now accepted that most English place names evolved and were named after topographical features like hills, rivers and streams or after individuals who farmed the land. Some were named in an official way because of their association with the king or a knight. In the early part of this century, the historian Frank Stenton took the view that most Anglo-Saxon place names were named by officials, but this is now rejected.

It was Stenton's view that the 40 different Anglo-Saxon terms for a hill found in place names were accidental. Margaret Gelling, a place names expert, had a different view. She demonstrated that each different hill name actually corresponded to a particular shape and size of hill. This seems strange to us, but hills, trees and rivers would be the most prominent features of the Anglo-Saxon landscape. Most Anglo-Saxons were farmers and were interested in the shape of the land. Such farmers no doubt named each place they settled.

However, the Romans were much more likely to use official names. Often Romans used certain names more than once. The Romans constructed forts and settlements so quickly that they perhaps sometimes ran out of ideas for naming their places.

When the Romans left Britain, virtually none of the Roman place names survived, although one major exception is Catterick. It was named after cataracts - the waterfalls or rapids on the Swale - and it probably survived because the Romans introduced the word into the Celtic language. However, almost all Roman place names died. The numerous Chester place names are merely Anglo-Saxon names for old Roman forts.

Newcastle, for example was known to the Romans as Pons Aeli. Pons means bridge and Aeli was the family name of the Emperor Hadrian. When the Romans departed, the Anglo-Saxons recognised the place as a chester - an abandoned Roman fort and as there was a community of monks living here it became Monkchester. Later the Normans built a castle, then replaced it with a new one - hence Newcastle.

Peterlee is of course an official name chosen by a committee. It is named after the Durham miners' leader, Peter Lee. Newton Aycliffe was also an assigned name. Aycliffe is the Anglo-Saxon name for the neighbouring village but Newton was adopted to describe the new town status.

However, most Newtons are hundreds of years old. The name Newton means New Farm. Newton Hall, for example, a housing estate near Durham, takes its name from its location on the site of a Georgian mansion called Newton Hall. The hall was built on the site of a farm called Newton which existed at the time of the Boldon Book in 1183 and probably earlier.

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