In his introduction, the author explains how the county's place names are influenced by its history even before the 1st-century Roman occupation, to when it was lived in by the Brigantes who spoke a hybrid form of Celtic, a mixture of British and Irish Gaelic. This was followed by the Angles and the Saxons speaking a form of early English which then assimilated some Latin and Norman-French. Early place names reflect natural features or ownership by a particular person. Besides giving some historical background to each town or village featured, including the wonderful No Place, Paul explains the most likely origin of the name. There's a small section on notable hills and a chapter on pub names. This is a great book to dip in and out for interesting wee snippets. You'll learn plenty!
| ISBN: | 9781840338713 |
| Publication date: | 2nd June 2021 |
| Author: | Paul Chrystal |
| Publisher: | Stenlake Publishing an imprint of The Place Names of County Durham |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Pagination: | 128 pages |
| Genres: |
Places in old photographs |