Northallerton
Northallerton is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the River Wiske in the Vale of Mowbray and had a population of 16,832 in 2011. Northallerton is an administrative centre for York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority and North Yorkshire Council.
There has been a settlement at Northallerton since Roman times. That grew in importance from the 11th century when King William II gifted land there to the Bishop of Durham, and it became an important religious centre. The Battle of the Standard fought nearby in 1138 involved the death of up to 12,000 Scots.
Northallerton was an important stopping point for coaches on the road between Edinburgh and London until the arrival of the railway.
History
Early
Due to its proximity to a Roman road, entrenchments and relics, the earliest settlement at Northallerton was a Roman military station. There is evidence that the Romans had a signal station on Castle Hills just to the west of the town as part of the imperial Roman postal system and a path connecting Hadrian's Wall with Eboracum ran through what is now the neighbouring village of Brompton.The first church was set up by St Paulinus of York on the site of the present All Saints Parish Church sometime in the early 7th century. It was made from wood and nothing survives of it. In 855 a stone church was built on the same site; fragments of stone have been found during restoration work which provide strong evidence of this Anglian church.
It was believed that an Anglo-Saxon town known as Alvertune then developed. In Pierre de Langtoft's history of King Alfred he writes that in 865 it was the site of a number of battles between King Elfrid and his brother Alfred on one side and five Danish kings and a similar number of earls. Later, in the 10th century, Danes settled at Romanby and Brompton. A fine example of English stonecarving from the period, the Brompton Hogbacks, can be found in Brompton Parish Church.
In the Domesday Survey, Norman scribes named the settlement Alvertune, Aluertune and Alretone and there is a reference to the Alvertune wapentac, an area almost identical to the Allertonshire wapentake of the North Riding, which was named after the town.
The origin of the town's name is uncertain, though it is believed that the name derives from a derivation of the name Aelfere, Aelfereton translates as the farm belonging to Aelfere or even of King Alfred. Alternatively it may be referring to the Alder trees which grew nearby. The prefix of North was added in the 12th century to differentiate from the parish of Allerton Mauleverer, to the south.
Its position on a major route brought death and destruction to the town on many occasions. In 1069, in an attempt to quell rebellion in the north, the area between the Ouse and the Tyne was laid waste by the armies of William the Conqueror. The town of Northallerton was almost totally destroyed or depopulated. Just a few years later it is described in the Domesday Book as modo est in manu regis et wastum est.
Battle of the Standard
On 22 August 1138, English forces repelled a Scottish army on Cowton Moor in Brompton parish, around north of the town. This was the first major battle between the Scots and the English after the Norman conquest and one of the two major battles in the civil war between King Stephen and Empress Matilda. The English forces were summoned by Archbishop Thurstan of York, who had gathered local militia and baronial armies from Yorkshire and the North Midlands. They arrayed themselves round a chariot with a ship's mast carrying the consecrated banners of St Peter of York, St John of Beverley, St Wilfrid of Ripon and St Cuthbert of Durham, it was this standard-bearing chariot that gave the battle its name.King David had entered England in support of his niece, Empress Matilda, who was viewed as the rightful heiress to the English throne usurped by King Stephen. With Stephen fighting rebel barons in the south, the Scottish armies had already taken Cumberland and Northumberland, the city of Carlisle and the royal castle at Bamburgh. Finding the English in a defensive position on a hill, David elected to force a battle counting on his superior numbers, 16,000 Scots against 10,000 Englishmen. Repeated attacks by native Scots failed against the onslaught from the English archers, with losses of up to 12,000 Scots. A subsequent attack by mounted knights met initial success but fell back due to lack of infantry support. The battle ended when David's reserve deserted, forcing him to retreat. The English elected not to pursue, and despite their great losses the Scots were able to regroup in sufficient number to besiege and capture Wark Castle. The victory by the English ensured the safety of Northern England.
Religion
Shortly after his accession William Rufus gave the town, with the lands adjacent, to the see of Durham, and, under the patronage of the bishops of that diocese, it grew in importance, and became an episcopal residence. In 1130 a castle was built on the west side of the town adjacent to North Beck by Bishop Rufus and was expanded in 1142 after William Cumin had seized the Bishopric of Durham in 1141. The castle was further expanded in 1173 by Hugh Pudsey and garrisoned by Flemish soldiers, an act which enraged King Henry II who ordered it be razed to the ground in 1177. A more substantial fortified palace surrounded by a moat was built on the same site in 1199, replacing the motte-and-bailey castle. The palace became an important administrative centre for the bishops' lands in Yorkshire and served as a major residence for the bishops and their staff. The palace lay on the main road from York to Durham and was a regular stopping place for royalty and other dignitaries. The palace had fallen into ruin by 1658 and the site is now a cemetery.In 1318, the town was destroyed by the Scots, under Sir James Douglas following the Capture of Berwick upon Tweed. A Carmelite priory was founded in 1354, but was demolished soon after the dissolution of the monasteries in 1538. The site passed to various people and was used for arable farming before a workhouse was built on the site in 1857. Subsequently, the Friarage Hospital, which takes its name from the friary, was built. Following development of the site in 2006, archaeologists uncovered the remains of eight monks along with other artefacts.
In 1978, Northallerton Sons of William Loyal Orange Lodge #265 was established as a part of the Orange Order. The Northallerton Lodge is under the Grand Orange Lodge of England. They are a Protestant fraternity that practices the Protestant faith, hold regular meetings and participate in Orange marches. The name "Sons of William" is a tribute to King William III, a key figure to the Orange Order.
Law and order
A house of correction opened in 1783 on Priest Garth, beside what is now East Road. This became HM Prison Northallerton, which served as an adult prison, a Young Offender Institution, and a military prison. The prison closed in 2013 and is now partially demolished. It once had the world's largest treadmill. As of February 2021, the site of the former prison has two retail outlets, Iceland and Lidl situated on it.The Quarter Sessions for the area were held in the town from the 17th century in various buildings including the Tollbooth, the Guild Hall and Vine House. In 1875, architect John Carr was commissioned to build a dedicated courthouse on Zetland Road, adjacent to the prison. When in 1856 the North Riding Constabulary was founded, one of the last county forces to be formed, Northallerton was selected as its headquarters. Initially it operated from a converted house beside the prison, moving to a purpose-built structure in 1880. Police HQ moved to nearby Racecourse Lane in 1910, with the court moving opposite it in 1936. The previous courthouse and police buildings were demolished in the 1990s. The court building on Racecourse Lane later housed the magistrates' court and coroner's court.
When the Poor Law union system was introduced, a workhouse was established in the town to serve the three parishes in the area. This building is now part of the Friarage Hospital.
The Thirsk Road drill hall was opened in 1911, just before the First World War.
Governance
The ancient parish of Northallerton covered a wide area including the townships and chapelries of Romanby, Brompton and Deighton, and the detached part of High Worsall on the River Tees. They became separate civil parishes in the 19th century.The parish council of Northallerton is a town council and has 12 councillors, elected in four wards. The town council is based at Northallerton Town Hall.
Northallerton has been twinned with Ormesson-sur-Marne, a suburb of Paris, since 1994.
In 1889 the County of York, North Riding administrative county was formed. In 1894 it was divided into municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts. Following a review of local government in 1974, the North Riding was abolished as an administrative county. The district council of Hambleton was formed from the merger of Northallerton Urban District with Bedale Rural District, Easingwold Rural District, Northallerton Rural District, Thirsk Rural District and Croft Rural District. This became part of the non-metropolitan county of North Yorkshire.
Since 2023, North Yorkshire Council has provided both district-level and county-level services. York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority assumed its powers on 1 February 2024. The first Mayor of York and North Yorkshire will be elected in May 2024.
Northallerton was a parliamentary borough. Its first representatives were John le Clerk and Stephen Maunsell, who were elected to the parliament of King Edward I in 1298, but no subsequent return was made until 1640, when the privilege was resumed by order of the House of Commons. From 1640 to 1885, the town formed the parliamentary borough of Northallerton, returning two Members of Parliament until the Great Reform Act of 1832. Under the Act, boundaries were extended to include Brompton and Romanby and representation was reduced to a single member.
In 1885 the constituency was abolished and absorbed into the Richmond division of the North Riding. The serving member for the Richmond constituency is Rishi Sunak of the Conservative Party, who has held the seat since 2015 when he succeeded former party leader and Foreign Secretary William Hague. In modern times it has been a safe seat for the Conservative Party, which has held it since 1929. Sunak served as Prime Minister between 2022 and 2024.