Historical names: Aldborough Manor; Aldburgh
Location: Aldbrough, Yorkshire
Places / associated places: Aldbrough, Yorkshire
Listed in Domesday Book: Yes
Location & Extent
GPS Location & Recorded Land Areas
Representative GPS point: 53.8277, -0.11422
Identity: confirmed — The TNA/MDR record, registry location and authority reference identify the East Riding of Yorkshire manor at Aldbrough in Holderness, not the separate Aldbrough/Aldbrough St John manor near Stanwick in North Yorkshire. The identification is corroborated by the East Riding archive catalogue, which records Aldbrough estate and manorial material in the Chichester-Constable collection, and by evidence that the Chichester-Constables were lords of the manor of Aldbrough.
Representative point: 53.8277, -0.11422
Basis: supported_manorial_centre — The point is the centre of the historic village of Aldbrough, where the documented East Riding manor was based. No securely identified surviving manor-house site for this exact manor was found. The point is therefore a supported manorial-centre proxy rather than a precise manor-house coordinate.
Point confidence: medium
Boundary status: representative_point_only
Boundary period: Not established
Boundary confidence: none
Boundary basis: The available evidence confirms the manor's location but does not provide a defensible perimeter for the historical manorial land. Domesday evidence associates a very large estate with Aldbrough and numerous appurtenant places, but that estate cannot safely be equated with the later manor recorded in the TNA/MDR entry. Modern parish or township boundaries have therefore not been substituted.
Sources:
- The National Archives, Manorial Documents Register: Aldbrough Manor, F236300: https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/c/F236300 — Registry record supplied for the exact manor, with authority/reference GB/NNAF/M166615 and location Aldbrough, Yorkshire.
- East Riding Archives: Chichester-Constable Family and Estate Records, DDCC: https://calmview.eastriding.gov.uk/Record.aspx?id=zDDCC&src=CalmView.Catalog — Authoritative archive catalogue describing deeds, estate and manorial records relating to Aldbrough from 1517 to 1845, including records held in the same archive series as the supplied DDCV research leads.
- Landed Estates in the Nineteenth Century: East Yorkshire: https://www.eylhs.org.uk/dl/132/landed-estates-in-the-c19 — States that the Chichester-Constables were still lords of the manor of Aldbrough in 1897, corroborating the identity of the East Riding manor.
- Open Domesday: Aldbrough, Holderness: https://opendomesday.org/place/TA2438/aldbrough/ — Places Aldbrough in the Domesday hundred of Holderness and records the substantial associated estate and appurtenant settlements, supporting Aldbrough as the historical manorial centre while not supplying a later manor boundary.
- Historic England: Aldborough House, Aldbrough, East Riding of Yorkshire: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1083528 — Documents a substantial historic house within the East Riding village at NGR TA2418238357, close to the manorial centre; it supports the village location but does not explicitly prove that the building was the medieval or early-modern manor house.
- Historic England: St Bartholomew's Church, Aldbrough: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1083529 — Documents the historic parish church at the centre of Aldbrough, providing an authoritative geographic anchor for the settlement used as the supported manorial-centre proxy.
Warnings / uncertainty:
- The representative point is not a confirmed manor-house location.
- No historically documented or source-reconstructable polygon for the exact later manor was located.
- The Domesday estate associated with Aldbrough included numerous appurtenant places and should not be used as the boundary of the later Aldbrough Manor without further archival mapping evidence.
- The separate Aldbrough/Aldbrough St John in North Yorkshire was excluded.
About the Manor
Aldbrough Manor is the imported spelling for the manor of Aldborough, the ancient settlement beside Boroughbridge in the former West Riding of Yorkshire. The manor included or was closely associated with the borough of Boroughbridge, the liberty and customary lands of Aldborough, and property in places including Milby, Minskip and Ellenthorpe. Aldborough was a manor of ancient demesne: a Crown manor at the time of Domesday. Its surviving documentary record includes medieval and early-modern court rolls, custumals, inquisitions, Duchy of Lancaster leases, deeds, common recoveries and enclosure-related papers. The manor should not be merged with Aldbrough in Holderness, East Yorkshire, or Aldbrough St John in Richmondshire.
Ownership / Holder Account
The secure public evidence begins with Aldborough as a Crown manor of ancient demesne, held by the Crown from the Domesday period until the Crown's disposal of the manor in 1628. A 1628 royal grant placed the manor in the hands of Edward Ditchfield and other grantees, and an enrolled bargain and sale of 2 December 1629 conveyed it to Arthur Aldburgh. Arthur Aldburgh is directly documented as manor holder through the 1630s and 1640s; several transactions involving him concern the manor itself, its former manor-house site, its royalties, fishing and hunting rights, and a 1649 demise of the manor to Sir John Mallory for a term of 99 years. The documentary trail located here does not securely establish the intermediate conveyances between Arthur Aldburgh's later tenure and the acquisition by the Dukes of Newcastle. The Dukes of Newcastle are securely attested as holding the manor by the early nineteenth century, and specifically the 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne owned it when Andrew Lawson purchased Aldborough Manor in 1834. Andrew Lawson thereafter held the manor and estate and developed Aldborough Manor and its gardens. Later Lawson and Lawson-Tancred family association with Aldborough Manor is well attested, but the precise legal descent after Andrew Lawson has not been reconstructed here and current ownership is intentionally not supplied.
Manorial Rights & Privileges
Historic manorial rights / privileges (5)
Ancient demesne status
Provisional
Aldborough was a Crown manor of ancient demesne, with associated customary tenure and jurisdictional characteristics.
Borough and liberty associated with Aldborough
Provisional
The manor was closely associated with the borough of Boroughbridge and the liberty and customary lands of Aldborough.
Manorial royalties
Provisional
The documentary record includes transactions concerning the manor's royalties.
Fishing rights
Provisional
The documentary record includes transactions concerning fishing rights associated with the manor.
Hunting rights
Provisional
The documentary record includes transactions concerning hunting rights associated with the manor.
Records & References
Sources and references mentioning this manor/title which are not necessarily conveyances or transfers.
4 records found · showing 1–4.
1751: precept to hand over records
Held by: Hull History Centre (Hull University Archives)
Further information: NRA 6482
1750: appointment of steward
Held by: Hull History Centre (Hull University Archives)
Further information: NRA 6482
1738-1758: call rolls
Held by: Hull History Centre (Hull University Archives)
Further information: NRA 6482
1732-1759: verdicts
Held by: Hull History Centre (Hull University Archives)
Further information: NRA 6482
Conveyance & Descent
First holder to present holder: blood proximity & distance travelled
First recorded holder: The Crown
Present holder:
Recorded title journey: 6 holder entries in this manor's saved Conveyance & Descent history.
No recorded holder currently has a usable saved direct-blood or collateral-blood relationship path from which to calculate proximity percentages.
First recorded holder → present holder
A usable saved blood relationship path between the first recorded holder and the present holder has not yet been recorded, so that first-to-present genealogical distance cannot be calculated.
Transfer: Held as a Crown manor of ancient demesne; the manor remained in Crown hands until its disposal in 1628.
Shared holding: Crown manor
Previous holder: Anglo-Saxon royal lordship or predecessor Crown holding
Aldborough is described in an authoritative historical account as a manor of ancient demesne, meaning a manor owned by the King at the time of Domesday, and as continuing to be held by the Crown until 1628. The 1293 archive item concerning Edmund, Earl of Cornwall relates to property in the Honour of Knaresborough but does not by itself establish that Edmund held the manor of Aldborough, so it has not been treated as a conveyance to him.
Source: Richardson, J., article in Rural History Centre Studies, volume 164, July 1996, p. 134, stating that Aldborough was a manor of ancient demesne and continued to be held by the Crown until 1628; corroborated by the University of Nottingham, Newcastle (Clumber) Collection, Ne 6/D/16/1/1-43, archive descriptions of the 1617 and 1628 Crown leases and grant. — source link
Edward Ditchfield and other grantees, Grantee of the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire, in 1628
Transfer: Grant by King Charles I of the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire, to Edward Ditchfield and others by letters patent dated 9 September 1628.
Holding arrangement: Joint — Whole manor, jointly granted; the complete list of grantees is not given in the catalogue summary
Shared holding: Royal grantees
Previous holder: The Crown, English Crown, lord of the manor of Aldborough
The University of Nottingham archive catalogue identifies a copy of letters patent by which Charles I granted the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire, to Edward Ditchfield and others on 9 September 1628. The record is direct for the manor, although the catalogue summary does not list every co-grantee. The grant marks the end of the Crown's recorded direct tenure.
Source: University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections, Newcastle (Clumber) Collection, Ne 6/D/16/1/1-43, item 19: copy letters patent of King Charles I granting the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire, to Edward Ditchfield and others, 9 September 1628. — source link
Arthur Aldburgh, Esquire, lord or owner of the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire
Transfer: Contract for conveyance from the City of London to Arthur Aldburgh dated 18 June 1629, followed by an enrolled bargain and sale from Edward Ditchfield and others and the Corporation of London to Arthur Aldburgh dated 2 December 1629.
Shared holding: Aldburgh family ownership
Previous holder: Edward Ditchfield and other grantees; Corporation of London as the conveying corporate party
Arthur Aldburgh is directly documented as acquiring the manor itself. The archive catalogue records both the June 1629 contract and the 2 December 1629 enrolled bargain and sale from Edward Ditchfield and others and the Corporation of London. Arthur subsequently appears in transactions concerning the manor, including a 1630 agreement with freeholders and customary tenants, a 1632 assignment of the manor term, a 1637 feoffment of land and wastes forming part of the manor, a 1649 demise of the manor to Sir John Mallory, and a 1647-1652 quietus for fee-farm rent paid for the manor. The later end date of Arthur's ownership is not established by the sources used; the 1649 demise is a term lease securing engagements and is not treated as an outright sale.
Source: University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections, Newcastle (Clumber) Collection, Ne 6/D/16/1/1-43, items 21 and 23: contract for conveyance of the manor of Aldborough to Arthur Aldburgh, 18 June 1629, and enrolled bargain and sale to Arthur Aldburgh, 2 December 1629; related items 24-40 document Arthur's subsequent dealings with the manor. — source link
Sir John Mallory, party to a 99-year demise of Aldborough Manor in 1649
Transfer: Demise by Arthur Aldburgh to Sir John Mallory of the manor of Aldborough for a term of 99 years, made to secure engagements undertaken by Mallory for Aldburgh.
Holding arrangement: Other — Term lease or security interest, not an outright transfer of the manor
Shared holding: Leasehold or security interest
Previous holder: Arthur Aldburgh, Esquire, lord or owner of the manor of Aldborough, Yorkshire
This is included to preserve an important documented interest but must not be read as proof that Sir John Mallory became the freehold owner or lord of the manor. The archive description expressly calls the transaction a demise for a term of 99 years to secure engagements made by Mallory for Aldburgh. It therefore represents a leasehold or security arrangement under Arthur Aldburgh's ownership rather than a proven change in the manor's ultimate ownership.
Source: University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections, Newcastle (Clumber) Collection, Ne 6/D/16/1/1-43, item 35: demise from Arthur Aldburgh to Sir John Mallory of the manor of Aldborough, 24 January 1649. — source link
Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne
Transfer: Held the manor before its sale to Andrew Lawson in 1834. The precise acquisition date and intermediate conveyances from the seventeenth-century Aldburgh ownership are not established by the sources used.
Shared holding: Dukes of Newcastle
Previous holder: Intermediate holder or holders not established
The 4th Duke is directly identified as the owner from whom Andrew Lawson purchased Aldborough Manor in 1834. A 1832 marriage-settlement document in the Newcastle archive also refers to a common recovery of the Manor of Aldborough by Henry Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne and the Earl of Lincoln. The sources establish the duke's ownership by 1832-1834 but do not establish the precise earlier conveyance into the Newcastle estate. Individual purchases of land and messuages in Aldborough by the Dukes in 1701-1703 are documented in the archive, but those parcel purchases are not conflated with a proven conveyance of the entire manor.
Source: English Heritage, History of Aldborough Roman Site, identifying Andrew Lawson's purchase of Aldborough manor in 1834 from the 4th Duke of Newcastle; University of Nottingham Manuscripts and Special Collections, Ne 6/D/16/1/1-43, item 503-504, common recovery of the Manor of Aldborough in the 4th Duke's marriage settlement, 1832. — source link
Andrew Lawson, Esquire, Member of Parliament for Knaresborough, lord of the manor of Aldborough
Transfer: Purchase of Aldborough Manor from Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, in 1834.
Shared holding: Lawson family ownership
Previous holder: Henry Pelham Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, 4th Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne
Andrew Lawson purchased Aldborough Manor from the 4th Duke of Newcastle in 1834. English Heritage states that Lawson subsequently encouraged exploration of the Roman town, excavated Roman buildings within the manor grounds, protected mosaics and established a museum. A nineteenth-century biographical source records that he lived at Aldborough Manor and died on 28 February 1853. The precise legal extent of the 1834 purchase and the later descent after Andrew Lawson are not reconstructed here.
Source: English Heritage, History of Aldborough Roman Site; Andrew Lawson biography, The Peerage, recording his residence at Aldborough Manor and death on 28 February 1853. — source link
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JSON API
Machine-readable published manor data, including public images, mapped land areas, notes, rights, conveyances, relationships, records, source/document-library entries and public file links.
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