Bainbridge, Aysgarth, North Yorkshire
Description edited from Langdale's Yorkshire
Dictionary (1822) and Baine's Directory of the County of York (1823)
BAINBRIDGE, in the parish of Aysgarth, wapentake of Hang West, and liberty of
Richmondshire; 1 mile SW. of Askrigg; situated upon the river Ure, over which
is a good stone bridge of three arches.
This was formerly a Roman station called the Bracchium; the fortifications of
which are visible upon a hill, called Borough-Hill, at the junction of the
Bain, a small stream that flows from Semmerwater and the Ure, close by the
village. A part of the 6th Legion was stationed here. Several monuments of
Roman antiquity have been found amongst these ruins, and a statue of Aurelius
Commodus, with an inscription, was also found here, which was preserved by Mr.
Metcalf, of Nappa. By the antique corn mill at Cappagh, near Bainbridge, a pair
of ancient mill stones were discovered in 1817; they were covered with the
remains of a strong leather hide, and measured in circumference nine feet six
inches, and twenty-four inches in depth: being put in motion by Mr. Wm. Paxton,
they ran in the form of a dish, one within the other, and worked in a very
superior manner. Every night at 10 o'clock, from Holyrood, Sept. 27, to
Shrovetide, a horn is blown, called the forest horn, of which tradition
affirms, that it was intended as a signal to the benighted travellers, to
direct his footsteps to the nearest points which could afford him shelter and
accommodations. -Whitaker. This is a part of the old forest laws. -For an
account of the Free School, see Yores-bridge.
Here are a Methodist chapel and a Friends' Meeting House. Bainbridge has a Free
Grammar school, erected and endowed in the 43rd year of Queen Elizabeth, by
Anthony Besson, Esq. a native of Askrigg, and the Rev. Anthony Wharton is the
present master. Pop. 872.
