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Aldbrough, a parish town, in the middle division of Holderness; 7 miles from Hornsea, 8 from Hedon, 12 from Hull, 52 from York. – Pop. including Carlton and Fosham, 802, which being united, form a township. The Church is a vicarage, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, in the deanery of Holderness, value, £13 15s. Patron, the King.

At Aldbrough, is a Saxon inscription engraved on a circular stone, 15 ½ inches in diameter, fixed over a pillar on the south side of the nave, which runs round the margin of the stone. It commemorates the time of its erection; and may be read in English, “Ulf commanded this church be erected for the souls of Hanum and Gunthard.” See particular account of this inscription in the Archaeologia. Vol. 6. in a letter from J. C. Brooke, Esq. to the Society of Antiquaries, on the authority of the Rev. Mr. Dade of Barmston. The church, from repairs at various periods, has now a modern appearance. Mr. Pegge, in vol. 7. of the same work, assigns very plausible reasons for its not being of Saxon erection: he supposes, “that Ulf built a church, which in a few years, and by some means now unknown, was destroyed, and lay in ruins in 1080; and when the present fabric was erected, the old stone, with its inscription, which had happily been preserved, was put up in the new structure and in the place it now occupies.”

Of the old castle which, with the Lordships, belonged to William le Gros, Earl of Albermarle, who was at the battle of the standard, in 1138, not a vestige is to be seen. Tradition says, it stood northward of the church, but an enclosure which took place some years ago, has quite levelled the foundations; and the Well, which was within the castle and supplied it with water, is now near the high road. The Roman road from the Praetorium to the Gabrantovicorum Sinus Portuosus vel Salutaris of Ptolemy, runs through Aldbrough. – Archaeol. Vol. 6.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of Yorkshire By Thomas Langdale. Second Edition. Printed and Sold by J. Langdale; and sold by T. Langdale, Ripon. 1822.