Picturesquely located on the banks of the River Ure and adjoining canal, this historic town offers a variety of attractions together with a great range of unusual specialist shops and cafes and free on-street parking.
Waterborne travellers can use the free moorings on the river and lock or moor at the Marina for a longer stay. You can even take a boat trip to Newby Hall or further afield (bookings on 07885 810342 or 01423 326541).
The town site is thought to have been occupied as far back as the Bronze Age when the rough-hewn millstone grit pillars known as the Devil’s Arrows were placed in a row in a field immediately on the western edge of the town. They are 18ft, 22 ft and 22ft 6inches tall, the last being taller than anything at Stonehenge. One stands by the roadside among trees immediately to the west of Roecliffe lane, the other two are in a field which is flanked by a lane leading to the Marina and the famous Riverside Sawmills.
In 1322 during the Battle of Boroughbridge, Sir Andrew Harclay defeated The Earl of Lancaster, whose sanctuary was broken (he had taken refuge in a church in St James’s Square). He was taken prisoner and subsequently beheaded in York as a traitor.
The weir is thought to have been built between1767 and 1769 and the canal in 1770.
The fountain in St James's Square was built over an artesian well in 1875 and was for many years the principal source of water for the town.
In its heyday the town boasted 22 inns which served the drovers (at its peak times, 2000 cattle a day were driven across the bridge on route from Scotland to the South) and also the riverboat crews, the horse traders, the gypsies and the tradesmen, a truly colourful crowd of folk.
In about AD72 the Romans built Aldborough, then known as Isurium Brigantium, where they could ford the River Ure. There is a small museum on the site of the fort where you can see the mosaic pavements, fascinating objects and the defences of Roman Britain’s largest tribe. The Normans moved the crossing to the site of the present bridge in the late 11th century and the community of Aldborough began to grow up around this wooden bridge which was rebuilt in stone in the 16th century.
Today Aldborough is a delightful small town complete with its historic houses, village green, maypole and country pub, “The Ship Inn”.
