In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Aldborough like this:
ALDBOROUGH, a decayed ancient town and a township in the district of Knaresborough, W. R. Yorkshire; and a parish chiefly in the same district, but partly in Ripon district, N. R. The town stands on the river Ure and on Watling-street, near the Boroughbridge and Pilmoor railway, 1 mile E by N of Boroughbridge; and it has a post office under York. ...
It was the capital of the Brigantes, the Isurium of the Romans, and the Ealdburg of the Saxons. It became a borough in the time of Queen Mary; and it sent two members to parliament till disfranchised by the act of 1832. It anciently covered about 60 acres, within defensive walls about 12 feet thick; but it is now a mere village, irregularly built. Some vestiges of the walls remain; and many Roman coins, urns, utensils, and other relics have been found. A Roman citadel is supposed to have stood in its centre; a Roman bridge crossed the Ure contiguous to it; and Roman works of art, including sculptures, wall-paintings, baths, and fine pavements, have left sufficient remains in it to show that it must have been a scene of luxury and power during a considerable period of the Roman occupation. Many of the relics are preserved for the inspection of the curious. The parish church adjoins the site of the supposed citadel; is an edifice of some antiquity; and probably was built with materials from the ancient town. A statue of Mercury occurs in the outside of the vestry wall; and a gravestone, believed to be Saxon, is in the churchyard. Aldborough Hall is at the east gate of the ancient town; and Aldborough Manor is at the west gate.-The township includes the village, and comprises 1,890 acres. Real property, £6,300. Pop., 522. Houses, 115.—The parish includes also the townships of Boroughbridge, Rocliffe, Minskip, Ellenthorpe, and Lower Dunsforth, and parts of the townships of Humberton-with-Milby and Upper Dunsforth-cum-Branton-Green. Acres, 9,323. Real property of Aldborough, Boroughbridge, Rocliffe, Minskip, and Dunsforth townships, £17,002. Pop. of the parish, 2,279. Houses, 519. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £380.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of York. The vicarages of Boroughbridge, Rocliffe, and Dunsforth are separate benefices.
Aldborough through time
Aldborough is now part of Harrogate district. Click here for graphs and data of how Harrogate has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Aldborough itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Aldborough, in Harrogate and West Riding | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/11113
Date accessed: 05th November 2024
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