Boroughbridge, West Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Boroughbridge, a market-town, township, and parish in the W.R. Yorkshire. The town stands on the Ure, has a station on a branch of the N.E.R., and is 64 miles ESE of Ripon. It was formerly called Newborough, in contradistinction to the neighbouring small town of Aldborough, and it takes the latter part of its present name from a bridge built here over the Ure soon after the Conquest, and now superseded by a modern bridge. A battle was fought in its vicinity in 1322 between the forces of Edward II. and those of the Earl of Lancaster. Three rude monumental pillars, called the Devil's Arrows, somewhat like obelisks, and respectively 18, 22, and 31 feet high, stand, about ½ a mile to the west, and have been the subject of much discussion among antiquaries. A neat, fluted, Doric column, seemingly of the 14th century, stood in the market-place; and a quondam mansion of the Tancreds is now an inn. The town has a post, money order, and telegraph office under York, a railway station, and two banks. A weekly market is held on Tuesday, and various fairs during the year for horses, cattle, and sheep. The town was made a borough in the time of Mary, sending two members to Parliament, but was disfranchised by the Act of 1832. Acreage of township, 95; population, 924. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Ripon; net value, £273 with residence. Patron, the Vicar of Aldborough. The church is a substantial modern building with a tower; and there is a Wesleyan chapel, a cemetery, and a temperance hall.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Yorkshire | |
Civil parish | Aldborough | |
Riding | West | |
Wapentake | Claro |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in conjunction with various Archives, Local Studies, and Family History Societies have the following parish records online for Boroughbridge:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1823-1914 | 1909-1930 | 1852-1930 | 1852-1973 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Boroughbridge from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Boroughbridge)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the West Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Boroughbridge are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following West Riding newspapers online: