A Short History of Aberford

This article will gradually be expanded to provide a concise history of the village of Aberford, also previously known as Abbyford or Abberford. Please feel free to add to it.

1066 and All That

Aberford was not mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086. We know that a church existed in Aberford before the Conquest, so it is odd that the village is not recorded. The manors of Parlington, Hazlewood, Garforth and Sturton Grange are mentioned in this great survey of William's kingdom.

By 1166, Aberford was held by Richard le Gramaire. The Norman Church was built using local magnesian limestone and in 1251 Henry III granted a weekly Wednesday market to Richard le Gramaire, plus an annual fair on the feast of St.Riquier at his manor of Aberford. At this time the market cross was first erected adjacent to the churchyard.

The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Aberford's pin-making industry was well established by the 17th Century, producing domestic and hackle pins for wool combing and dressing flax. In 1769 it was said that Aberford was famous for nothing but pins but the pin industry had died out by 1820.

The Eighteenth Century

The Nineteenth Century and the Industrial Revolution

During the first two decades of the Nineteenth century the pits at Parlington began to run out of coal and in 1822 the last of the pits closed. The Gascoinge coal production moved to Garforth and in the 1830s new pits were sunk and plans made to distribute the coal to Wetherby, Tadcaster, and Knaresborough using the Great North road.

In 1822, according to Thomas Langdale's second edition of his Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire the total population of Aberford was 1,006, based on the 1821 census returns. At the time Aberford was divided into three "townships", the west-side of the town, south of the river Cock, was Abberford-cum-Parlington; the east-side, south of the river Cock, was Lotherton-cum-Abberford,; and all north of the river was "Abberford" alone.

The National school, renamed in 1817 and still in use today was built on the site of the original school, endowed by Lady Betty Hastings in 1738. The original school was built around the ancient Tithe Barn. In 1817 a front porch and Infants classroom was added and the school pronounced Aberford National School. Opposite the school are two redbrick timbered houses unlike any others in the village. They were also built in 1817 by Oriel College, Oxford, to house the headmaster and a church worker. By 1909 the school had 250 children. Until 1954 it was a through school, from Infants to school leaving age. In 1954, 11 year olds transferred to the new Parlington Secondary School.

The Aberford to Garforth Railway was first proposed in 1831 but, colliery developments took precedence and surveying did not start until 1833. The continuous run allowed for gravity working down to Aberford, and horse working back up to Garforth. No Act of Parliament was required because the railway was a private venture over private land.

Boosted by the new collieries and the Leeds and Selby Railway the population of Garforth was growing during the 1830s. Aberford had declined in importance and was principally an agricultural centre and small market town on the Great North Road. Aberford's population was also growing, but at a much slower rate than Garforth and was quickly outstripped by Garforth. With the Great North Road attracting a wide variety of traffic through Aberford, Richard Gascoigne decided to open his mineral line to passenger traffic. Working as a branch on the L&S, it would become a link in the rail route from Aberford to Leeds.

Locally known as the 'Aberford Fly Line', the railway was entirely single track except the gradient between Isabella and Sisters pits. This had two tracks and a stationary engine. Even the lesser gradients could prove a problem for the horse in bad weather, and it was not unusual for the 'High Flyer' to arrive at Isabella with all of the passengers pushing the empty train!

St.Ricarius Church was restored with Victorian thoroughness in 1861;virtually demolished and rebuilt at a cost of £3,000 to a design by Anthony Salvin. Only the Norman tower and one window survived. No medieval stained glass remains.

The Twentieth Century

Aberford has grown up along the Great North Road, but the increase in traffic following the Second World War leading to congestion in the relatively narrow main street and during the 1950s it became increasingly difficult to cross from one side of main street to the other. The A1 by-pass opened in 1962 and the village returned to relative tranquillity. Later the M1 motorway, finishing at the M62 south of Leeds, was linked in 1998 to the A1 with the two motorways meeting just south of Aberford.

The 1991 census shows that the population of Aberford and District Parish was 1,298.

The Millenium and the Twenty First Century