Aldborough is a village to the north-east of

Knaresborough Knaresborough ( ) is a market and spa town and civil parish in the Borough of Harrogate, in North Yorkshire, England, on the River Nidd. It is east of Harrogate. History Knaresborough is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as ''Chenares ...

, 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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

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 t ...

in the

Borough of Harrogate The Borough of Harrogate is a local government district with borough status in North Yorkshire, England. Its population at the census of 2011 was 157,869. Its council is based in the town of Harrogate, but it also includes surrounding towns and ...

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. Historically a part of the

West Riding of Yorkshire The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county County of York, West Riding (the area under the control of West Riding County Council), abbreviated County ...

, 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 Isurium or Isurium of the Brigantes ( la, Isurium Brigantum) was a Roman fort and town in the province of Britannia at the site of present-day Aldborough in North Yorkshire, England, in the United Kingdom. Its remains—the Aldborough Roman ...

. The Brigantes, the most populous Celtic tribe in the area at the time of the Roman occupation of Britain, 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 Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

town, ''

'', which marked the crossing 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 ...

, the Roman Road from

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

north to the Antonine Wall 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 kno ...

and Hadrian's Wall. Isurium Brigantum, after AD160, was the administrative centre of the Brigantes (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, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...

, 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, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and were particularly pop ...

pavements. Currently an extensive project is in progress directed by Rose Ferraby and

Martin Millett Martin John Millett, (born 30 September 1955) is a British archaeologist and academic. From 2001 to 2022, he was the Laurence Professor of Classical Archaeology at the University of Cambridge and a professorial fellow of Fitzwilliam College, Ca ...

, 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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manus ...

of 1086 as ''Burgh'' (

Old English Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

''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, and returned two

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs) until the seat was abolished in the

Great Reform Act The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major changes to the electo ...

of 1832. Aldborough was a large ancient parish, which included

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

s in both the

and across the River Ure in the

North Riding The North Riding of Yorkshire is a subdivision of Yorkshire, England, alongside York, the East Riding and West Riding. The riding's highest point is at Mickle Fell with 2,585 ft (788 metres). From the Restoration it was used as ...

. In the West Riding the parish included Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Lower Dunsforth,

Minskip Minskip is a village in the Harrogate district of North Yorkshire, England. It forms part of the civil parish of Boroughbridge. It is on the A6055 road and 1 mile south-west of Boroughbridge. Minskip appears in the Domesday Book as Minescip, a ...

, Roecliffe and Upper Dunsforth. In the North Riding the parish included Ellenthorpe and Milby. All these places became separate civil parishes in 1866.Vision of Britain website
/ref> In 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.

Notable people

* Rose Ferraby, artist and archaeologist. * Richard Aldborough, politician from the 1600s.

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