Aldborough is a village in the

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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Boroughbridge, to the north-east of

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire, England. It is east of Harrogate and was in the Borough of Harrogate until April 2023. History The Knaresborough Hoard, the largest hoard of ...

, in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. Historically a part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The Lord Lieutenant of the West Riding of Yorkshire, lieu ...

, Aldborough was built on the site of a major

Romano-British The Romano-British culture arose in Britain under the Roman Empire following the Roman conquest in AD 43 and the creation of the province of Britannia. It arose as a fusion of the imported Roman culture with that of the indigenous Britons, ...

town, Isurium Brigantum. The

Brigantes The Brigantes were Ancient Britons who in pre-Roman times controlled the largest section of what would become Northern England. Their territory, often referred to as Brigantia, was centred in what was later known as Yorkshire. The Greek geog ...

, the most populous Celtic tribe in the area at the time of the

Roman occupation of Britain Roman Britain was the territory that became the Roman province of ''Britannia'' after the Roman conquest of Britain, consisting of a large part of the island of Great Britain. The occupation lasted from AD 43 to AD 410. Julius Caesa ...

, used the settlement as a capital. Isurium may also have been the base of the Roman Legio VIIII Hispana.

Archaeology

Aldborough was built on the site of a major Roman town, '' Isurium Brigantum'', which marked the crossing of the River Ure by

Dere Street Dere Street or Deere Street is a modern designation of a Roman roads, 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 int ...

, the Roman Road from

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

north to the

Antonine Wall The Antonine Wall () was a turf fortification on stone foundations, built by the Romans across what is now the Central Belt of Scotland, between the Firth of Clyde and the Firth of Forth. Built some twenty years after Hadrian's Wall to the south ...

via

Corbridge Corbridge is a village in Northumberland, England, west of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle and east of Hexham. Villages nearby include Halton, Northumberland, Halton, Acomb, Northumberland, Acomb, Aydon and Sandhoe. Etymology Corbridge was k ...

and

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...

. Isurium Brigantum, after AD160, was the administrative centre of the

(and around about the centre of two ridings and York's land that the Brigantes originally covered), the most populous British tribe in the area at the time of the Roman occupation. Traces of comfortable houses have been found, with many potsherds, coins and bronze, iron and other objects, and a large part of the town walls can be seen. The Aldborough Roman Site museum, run by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

, contains relics of the Roman town, including

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

pavements. Currently an extensive project is in progress directed by Rose Ferraby and Martin Millett, which has undertaken extensive geophysical surveys, not only of the town and also the suburbs. These have revealed the regular layout of the town, showing the presence of a military compound and confirming the position of the forum and amphitheatre.

History

Aldborough was mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086 as ''Burgh'' (

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''burh'' 'ancient fortification'). By 1145 the prefix ''ald'' (old) had been added. Aldborough lost much of its importance when the river crossing was moved to Boroughbridge in Norman times. In the Middle Ages it was made a

parliamentary borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

, and returned two Members of Parliament (MPs) until the seat was abolished in the

Reform Act 1832 The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the Reform Act 1832, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 45), enacted by the Whig government of Pri ...

. Aldborough was a large

ancient 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, which included

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s in both the

and across the River Ure in the North Riding. In the West Riding the parish included Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Lower Dunsforth, Minskip, Roecliffe and Upper Dunsforth. In the North Riding the parish included Ellenthorpe and Milby. All these places became separate civil parishes in 1866. Aldborough Hall was built in the early 17th century and is a grade II* listed building. In 1852, the Battle Cross, commemorating the Battle of Boroughbridge, was relocated to the village. In 1931 the parish had a population of 543. On 1 April 1938 the civil parish of Aldborough was abolished and merged into the civil parish of Boroughbridge. In 1974 Aldborough was transferred from the West Riding to the new county of North Yorkshire. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate was a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England, from 1974 to 2023. Its council was based in the town of Harrogate, but it also included surrounding settlements, including the cathedral ...

, it is now administered by the unitary

North Yorkshire Council North Yorkshire Council, known between 1974 and 2023 as North Yorkshire County Council, is the local authority for the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2023 the council has been a unitary authority, being a county coun ...

Notable people

* Rose Ferraby, artist and archaeologist. * Richard Aldborough, politician from the 1600s. * Marion Paton, codebreaker at

Bletchley Park Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...

References

External links

Aldborough Roman Site: English Heritage
{{authority control Villages in North Yorkshire Boroughbridge Former civil parishes in North Yorkshire

Archaeology

History

Notable people

See also

References

External links