The name 'Aberford' comes from the Old English woman's name Ēadburg and the wordford, which, then as now, meant 'ford'. Thus the name originally meant 'Eadburg's ford'. This suggests the settlement's once-strategic importance.
History
Aberford was the crossing point of the ancient Great North Road over the Cock River. Aberford was considered the midway point between London and Edinburgh, being around distant from each city, until the construction of the A1 motorway bypass starting at Hook Moor. 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. The current bridge dates from the 18th century. 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. In the 17th century it was a major place for the manufacture of pins. Aberford's growth has historically been along the road and the village has developed a linear rather than nucleated profile. 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.
Geology
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.
Buildings
Aberford is considered "a place of special architectural and historic interest". Some notable buildings are as follows.
St Ricarius Church. The parish church is an 1861 rebuilding of a 12th century one.
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.
Aberford House, a classical 18th century mansion on Main Street.
The Swan Hotel, previously a staging 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, and a key landmark with the conservation area.
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. 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.
Parlington Estate
The Parlington Estate holds a monument to the independence of the United States, built by a member of the Gascoigne family. Inscribed on both elevations is the phrase "Liberty in N.America Triumphant MDCCLXXXIII". The Parlington estate holds artefacts and constructions, in particular the 'Dark Arch', a short curved tunnel along Parlington Lane reputed to be haunted. It was built to shield the residents of Parlington 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 for a private railway to transport the coal from the Gascoigne's pits to Garforth. The railway closed in 1924. 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 the First and Second World Wars. The structures, built during the Second World War and still in existence, were constructed by the soldiers of No.3 Vehicle Repair Depot, part of Royal Army Ordnance Corps. Nellie's Tree is a local landmark that was voted English and British Tree of the Year for 2018.
