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Aldborough is a simply delightful village. What estate agents call
desirable properties, large and small, stand around the village green on which
are a maypole, wooden stocks and a fifteenth century village cross. It could
almost be Gloucestershire rather than Yorkshire. The village is surrounded by
woods and fields next to the River Ure. The Church of St Andrew dates back to
the fourteenth century or earlier and in the church wall is a panel showing a
figure of the god Mercury.
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Aldborough was probably the capital of the Brigantes before the Romans arrived. First as a military camp for the famed Ninth Legion, Isurium Brigantium was built. It covered 60 acres and was protected by 20-foot walls and watchtowers. Within its walls were a temple, a forum, a hall of justice, fine houses and villas where the rich and powerful lived. This was refined country living fourth century style. Consuls and governors of York resided here. Remnants of the Roman city remain. There is a basilica in a cottage garden, a number of mosaic pavements. The quarry where the Romans obtained their stone is here still. |
| Generally the Romans built villas south of the Fosse Way and only forts north
of it. However clearly Aldborough became a civil settlement, perhaps the most
northerly of the Roman Empire. The Romans never really wholly subdued the
north of England; it did not become as Romanised as the south. But for more
than 350 years, let us not forget, like the rest of the Roman Empire we were
part of one law, one language, one currency, one State. And we benefited from
technological advance not seen again until Victorian times. There is a small museum, not open during the winter months, but otherwise the casual visitor would be unaware of what Aldborough is the successor to. The Normans moved the Ure crossing from Aldborough to Boroughbridge which soon became an important market town leaving Aldborough to slumber. The Norman wooden bridge at Boroughbridge has been replaced a number of times. The present fine bridge forms the boundary between the West and North Ridings. |
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More images of Aldborough (Click to enlarge - use your browser's 'Back' command to return here)
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Until 1963 the Great North Road ran through Boroughbridge. In the days when stagecoaches ran from Edinburgh to London, Boroughbridge, halfway between the two, was a major stop. The Crown Hotel alone had stabling for more than a hundred horses and there were many other inns. Many of the coaching inns are now flats or shops or in one case a home for the elderly. The traffic now speeds along the motorway a mile to the west next to the Devil’s Arrows. The town itself is a slow, fairly quiet and very pleasant market town, well rid of the excessive number of motor vehicles. There are tea-rooms, nine pubs and some rather upmarket charity shops as well as the usual butcher, baker, greengrocer and newsagent (which I was surprised to find read the bar code on my purchase). |
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Boroughbridge is built around three squares with streets linking them. Market Square is close to the Ure, St James’s Square is at the other end of the High Street and St Helena’s Square lies across the little River Tutt off Horsefair. The white cottages on Market Square were originally fishermen’s homes – there’s roach, perch, dace, pike, trout and grayling here, according to the local tourist information literature. The large market cross dates from 1875. It is a ‘polygonal open-arched structure with Tuscan columns, brick gables and an open lantern’ (Pevsner). The fountain was built over an artesian well and was the town’s principal source of water. The early fourteenth century was an eventful time in these parts. In 1299 the burgesses of Aldborough and Boroughbridge were given the right to return two MPs for each town to the Parliament of 1300, one of the very early Parliaments. In 1318 Boroughbridge was pillaged and burned by the Scots. The same thing happened the following year. |
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C13th Pub |
The Battle of Boroughbridge took place in 1322. The rebel Earl of Lancaster
was defeated by Sir Andrew Harclay and sought refuge in the church, usually a
place of sanctuary. His enemies dragged him out unmercifully and in his own
castle at Pontefract subjected him to a mock trial. Inevitably found guilty he
was executed with his face turned towards Scotland. Close to Boroughbridge is Newby Hall and Fountains Abbey is not far away. The town’s promotional material points out interestingly that within forty minutes’ drive are racecourses at Ripon, Thirsk, Catterick, Wetherby and York. Two thousand years of our history are to be found in these two small, quiet places. Most people just thunder by on the successor to the Great North Road. |
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(Click to enlarge)