Aldbrough St John

Aldbrough St John
Aldbrough St John
Aldbrough St John shown within North Yorkshire
Population 392 
OS grid reference NZ202112
Civil parish
  • Aldbrough
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town RICHMOND
Postcode district DL11
Police North Yorkshire
Fire North Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
EU Parliament Yorkshire and the Humber

Aldbrough St John is a village and civil parish (called Aldbrough) in the Richmondshire district in North Yorkshire, England. The parish has a population of 325 (2001 census), increasing to 392 at the 2011 Census.[1]

History

In Norse language Aldbrough means "Old Burh" or fortified stronghold. 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 2 miles north of Aldbrough referred to above as Albruch.[2] If this "castle" was indeed a ruin by 1540, then it must surely have dated from long before.

When the Duchess of Northumberland came to live in the village in the late 1800s, 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 in what is believed to have been the "burh" oval. A property of this type within the village is thought by Ian Wardle, a local historian, to be the reason why Aldbrough not only kept, 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. This information is further expanded on the village website.

A packhorse bridge crosses Aldbrough Beck near Aldborough.

Estate house at Aldbrough St John - formerly a post office hence the clock

References

  1. ↑ "Civil parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Leland, John (1909). Smith, Lucy Toulmin, ed. The Itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535–1543: Parts VII and VIII. 4. London: George Bell and Sons. p. 27. Retrieved 8 December 2016.


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