Aberford

The name 'Aberford' comes from the Old English woman's name Ēadburg and the word ford, which, then as now, meant 'ford'. Thus the name originally meant 'Eadburg's ford'.[4] This suggests the settlement's once-strategic importance.[5] The name was recorded as Ædburford in 1176 and Ædburgford in 1177, Ebberford in the 13th century and Aberford from 1208.[6]

Aberford was the crossing point of the ancient Great North Road over the Cock River (now reduced in volume as the Cock Beck). Aberford was considered the midway point between London and Edinburgh, being around 200 miles (320 km) distant from each city, until the construction of the A1(M) motorway bypass starting at Hook Moor.[7] On the north side of the river are The Aberford Dykes, earthworks to defend the crossing. The buried remains of a Roman fort have been found beneath Aberford House.[8] The current bridge dates from the 18th century.[9]

Aberford was in the ancient Kingdom of Elmet, the name given to the local 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 and was bequeathed by A.W. Franks to the British Museum in 1897.[10] In the 17th century it was a major place for the manufacture of pins.[11]

Aberford's growth has historically been along the road and the village has developed a linear rather than nucleated profile.[12] 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.

Geologically, Aberford lies slightly east of the narrow basal sandstone boundary between central Leeds' soft Coal Measures and much harder magnesian limestone deposits, and sits in an area shaped heavily by subsidence of the underlying Coal Measures.

Aberford is considered "a place of special architectural and historic interest".[13] Some notable buildings are as follows.

• St Ricarius Church. The parish church is an 1861 rebuilding of a 12th century one.[14]
• The Gascoigne Almshouses designed by George Fowler Jones and built by two sisters Mary Isabella and Elizabeth in 1844 to commemorate their father, Richard Oliver Gascoigne and two brothers who died in quick succession. They are grade II* listed buildings.[15]
• Aberford House, a classical 18th century mansion on Main Street.[16]
• The Swan Hotel, previously a staging post used by those travelling the Great North Road.[17]
• The Arabian Horse inn, one of only a very few public houses in the UK with this name, and a key landmark with the conservation area.[18]

The village contains a number of functional buildings, such as Aberford Church of England primary School, affiliated with the St Ricarius parish church adjacent to it. The school was originally a tithe barn.[19] At the northern boundary lies the A64 road from Leeds to York and Scarborough. At the south end of Aberford is what used to be Hicklam Mill Farm now a small certified caravan and camping site.

• 
  St Ricarius Church
• 
  The Swan a former public house
• 
  Gascoigne Almshouses
• 
  The Arabian Horse public house
• 
  Aberford Bridge over the Cock Beck. The arches show the former width
• 
  The Royal Oak a former public house

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Aberford.

• Aberford community website with local news and parish council information
• A comprehensive History of Parlington Hall, and features associated with the hall like the Ice House, the Dark Arch and the Triumphal Arch.'
• Leeds's geology
• Aberford C of E School
• Roman Roads in Britain (large map, recommended that this is opened in a separate window)
• Details on the Great North Road
• The Aberford Railway (Fly Line), at the LNER Encyclopedia
• Photos of Aberford and surrounding area on geograph
• Leodis View photographs of Aberford on the Leeds photographic archive.