- Aberford
infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 53.830427
longitude= -1.342080
official_name= Aberford
population = 1,059
metropolitan_borough=City of Leeds
metropolitan_county =West Yorkshire
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
constituency_westminster= Elmet
post_town= LEEDS
postcode_district = LS25
postcode_area= LS
dial_code= 0113
os_grid_reference=SE4340037330
static_
static_image_caption=Aberford is a large
village andcivil parish on the eastern outskirts of theCity of Leeds metropolitan borough inWest Yorkshire ,England . It has a population of 1,059 according to the 2001 census. It is situated 12 mileseast ofLeeds City Centre and lies in the LS25 Leeds postcode area.History
Aberford was held to be the midway point between
London andEdinburgh , being around 320 km (200 miles) distant from eachcity and lying as it does on the ancient Great North Road, until the construction of the A1 bypass starting at Hook Moor.It lies in the ancient Kingdom of
Elmet , the name now given to the localparliamentary constituency . The name 'Aberford' is of Anglo-Saxon origin, approximately translating as 'the crossing over the river', indicating the once strategic importance of the settlement. Aberford is supposed to have once had a reputation for makingpins .Some of the historic features of Aberford are:
* TheWhite Swan Hotel , previously astaging post used by those travelling the Great North Road
* The Arabian Horse inn, one of only a very few public houses in the UK with this name
* The buried remains of a Roman Fort beneath Aberford House
* The intersection between the Great North Road and the disused railway line known as the Fly Line (previously an old Roman road which joinedErmine Street nearYork ), popular withramblers
* Bisecting the village a stream known asCock Beck (previously Cock River) famous from theBattle of Towton
*The Aberford Dykes
* Proximity toHazlewood Castle
* Proximity toParlington Hall ,Lotherton Hall and theBecca Hall EstatesThe village also contains a number of functional buildings, such as Aberford C of E
Primary School , affiliated with the St RicariusParish Church of England adjacent to it. The school was originally atithe barn . Towards the southern boundary of the village lie the AberfordAlmshouses , built by the Gascoigne Sisters Isabella and Elizabeth in the 1840s to commemorate their father and two brothers who died in quick succession in 1842 and 1843. Originally serving as an asylum, it is today a thriving business centre. At the northern boundary lies theA64 road from Leeds toYork and Scarborough.Parlington Estate
The Parlington Estate holds a monument to the independence of the
United States , built by a member of the Gascoigne family (Sir Thomas Gascoigne, last of the Gascoigne blood line). Inscribed on both elevations is the phrase "Liberty in N.America Triumphant MDCCLXXXIII"." The Parlington estate holds many artefacts and constructions of interest, in particular the 'Dark Arch', a short curved tunnel along Parlington Lane reputed to be haunted. It was built c.1812 to shield the residents ofParlington Hall from the traffic passing along Parlington Lane, mostly horse drawn coal traffic, as it was taken to the village distribution point in Aberford for onward travel into the local market.The lane was later developed to provide a private railway to transport the coal from the pits in
Garforth to the Aberford Coal Staithes, commonly called the "Fly Line". The railway closed in 1922. Parlington Hall was left to run to ruins from 1905 after the death of Col F. C. T. Gascoigne, the Hall was largely demolished in the 1950s and 1960s, though the west wing is still intact. The estate was used by the army during theFirst World War andSecond World War , the structures built duringSecond World War and still in existence today (2005) were constructed by the soldiers of No.3 Vehicle Repair Depot, part of Royal Army Ordnance Corps.Present day
Aberford's
population growth has historically been around the road, and so the village has developed alinear rather thannucleated profile. Since the early 1990s much new housing has been constructed in the village, as increasingaffluence allows people to move away from city centres torural andsuburban areas.Geologically, Aberford lies slightly east of the narrow
basal sandstone boundary between centralLeeds ' softCoal Measures and much hardermagnesium limestone deposits, and sits in an area shaped heavily bysubsidence of the underlying Coal Measures.External links
* [http://www.aberford.net/ Recently updated Aberford community website with local news and parish council information]
* [http://www.parlington.co.uk/ The History of Parlington Hall and its surroundings']
* [http://www.leedsgeolassoc.freeserve.co.uk/localgeol.html Leeds's geology]
* [http://www.aberfordschool.com/ Aberford C of E School]
* [http://www.romans-in-britain.org.uk/map_romans_roads_in_britain.htm Roman Roads in Britain (large map, recommended that this is opened in a separate window)]
* [http://www.biffvernon.freeserve.co.uk/contents.htm Details on the Great North Road]
* [http://www.lner.info/article/aberford/aberford.shtml The Aberford Railway (Fly Line), at the LNER Encyclopedia]
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