Aberford, United Kingdom

History

Aberford is where the ancient Great North Road crosses over the Cock River (now reduced in volume as the Cock Beck). Aberford was the midway point on the road between London and Edinburgh, being around 200 miles (320 km) distant from each city. The construction of the A1(M) motorway bypassed the village starting at Hook Moor. On the north side of the river the Aberford Dykes earthworks were constructed to defend the crossing. The buried remains of a Roman fort have been found beneath Aberford House. The bridge dates from the 18th century.

Aberford was in the ancient Kingdom of Elmet, the name given to the former parliamentary constituency. An Anglo-Saxon gold ring, inscribed with the name of King Alfred the Great's sister Æthelswith, was found in a ploughed field near the village in 1870. It was bequeathed by A. W. Franks to the British Museum in 1897. In the 17th century the village was a major place for the manufacture of pins.

Aberford's growth was along the road and the village has developed a linear rather than nucleated profile. Since the early 1990s much new housing has been constructed, as increasing affluence allows people to move away from city centres to rural and suburban areas.

Aberford adjoins the Parlington Estate, and was the northern terminus of the private Aberford Railway.

From the History section of Aberford on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.