ALDBOROUGH, a parish, in the West riding of the county of
YORK, comprising the chapelry of Lower Dunsforth, and the
township of Upper Dunsforth with Branton-Green, in the upper
division, and the boroughs of Aldborough and Boroughbridge,
the townships of Minskep and Rocliff, and part of the township
of Humberton with Milby, in the lower division, of the
wapentake of CLARO, West riding of the county of YORK, and
containing 2129 inhabitants, of which number, 484 are in the
borough of Aldborough, 16 miles (N. W. by W.) from York, and
205 (N. N. W.) from London. The town, which stands upon the
southern bank of the river Ure, and upon the line of the
northern Watling-street, was the celebrated and important
Roman station called(isurium Brigantium, and received from the
Saxons the name of Eald-burg, denoting its antiquity even in
their time. Its destruction is attributed to the Danes, and it
has now become a very inconsiderable place, being irregularly
built, and the houses in general mean and detached from each
other. The elective franchise was granted by Philip and Mary,
in 1558. The right of election is vested in the inhabitants
paying scot and lot, in number about sixty; and the bailiff,
who is appointed by the lord of the manor, is the returning
officer. The living is a discharged vicarage, in the peculiar
jurisdiction and patronage of the Dean and Chapter of York,
rated in the king's books at £9. 19. 5. The church is
dedicated to St. Andrew. The foundations of the walls of the
ancient city, which included a quadrilateral area of two
thousand five hundred yards, may still be traced; near the
centre are vestiges of a mount, called the Borough Hill,
removed in 1783, and believed, from the remains then
discovered, to have been the site of a Roman temple. About a
hundred paces from the south wall is a semicircular outwork,
called Studforth, two hundred feet long, having a slope of
thirty feet, forming a lofty terrace on the south side of the
town. Many Roman remains, consisting of tesselated pavements,
domestic utensils, military weapons, coins, &c., have at
various times been discovered.