Aldbrough St John is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

(called just Aldbrough) in the

Richmondshire {{Infobox settlement , name = Richmondshire District , type = District , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_blank_emblem= Richmondshire arms.png , blank_emblem_type = Coat ...

district in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

, England. The parish has a population of 325 (2001 census), increasing to 392 at the 2011 Census.

History

In the Norse language Aldbrough means "Old Burh" or fortified stronghold. The St John suffix was added to the name in the 1930s by the

Post Office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

to avoid confusion with the Aldborough near

Boroughbridge Boroughbridge () is a town and civil parish in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is north-west of the county town of York. Until a bypass was built the town lay on the mai ...

. At one time Aldbrough St John had a "small castle". We know this from John Leland's account in 1540 that "There appere great ruines of a howse or litle castel at Albruch village, and thereby rennith a bekke. It standith a 2 mile south from Perse Bridg on Tese". Perse Bridg is now called

Piercebridge Piercebridge is a village and civil parish in the borough of Darlington and the ceremonial county of Durham, England. The population of the civil parish as of the 2011 census was 113. It is situated a few miles west of the town of Darlington. It ...

2 miles north of Aldbrough referred to above as Albruch. The village is west of

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

, north of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

and north of junction 56 on the

A1(M) A1(M) is the designation given to a series of four separate motorway sections in England. Each section is an upgrade to a section of the A1, a major north–south road which connects London, the capital of England, with Edinburgh, the capit ...

motorway. The road north from junction 56 of the A1(M) is part of

Dere Street Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman road which ran north from Eboracum (York), crossing the Stanegate at Corbridge (Hadrian's Wall was crossed at the Portgate, just to the north) and continuing beyond into what is n ...

and runs up to Piercebridge and beyond. Because of its proximity to the

Roman Road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

in the east, the A66 (former Roman Road) to the south and the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

to the north, suggestions of Romano-British settlements persist around the village. When the Duchess of Northumberland came to live in the village in the 1865, she had many of the old properties removed and the stone used to build new houses. It is generally accepted that any castle remains were also removed at this time. The foundations of this building were recently found by local historians Ian Wardle, Grant Rowley and David Shires in what is believed to have been the "burh" oval. A property of this type within the village is thought by Ian Wardle to be the reason why Aldbrough not only remained but increased in value in Norman times when all villages around were sacked and burned. He believes that Aldbrough was at the centre of the lands occupied by the local lord so may have been spared. Quarries at the south-western edge of the village supplied a red limestone, which was used for buildings in Richmond, Aldbrough St John,

Forcett Forcett is a village in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. It lies near the border with County Durham, on the B6274 road about 8 miles south of Staindrop. Nearby villages include Eppleby, Caldwell and Aldbrough. History ...

Stanwick St John Stanwick St John is a village, civil parish, former manor and ecclesiastical parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, (formerly "North Riding" of Yorkshire), England. It is situated between the towns of Darlington and Richm ...

and

East Layton East Layton is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, close to the border with County Durham and a few miles west of Darlington. The racehorse Horse racing is an equestrian performance s ...

. The church in Aldbrough St John is constructed of this stone. A

packhorse bridge A packhorse bridge is a bridge intended to carry packhorses (horses loaded with sidebags or panniers) across a river or stream. Typically a packhorse bridge consists of one or more narrow (one horse wide) masonry arches, and has low Parapet#Bridge ...

crosses Aldbrough Beck near Aldborough and is grade II listed.

References

Sources

External links

*
Aldbrough St John website
(Archive Copy) {{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Civil parishes in North Yorkshire Richmondshire