Roman West Yorkshire - Before the Romans

The Brigantes
Before the arrival of the Romans, West Yorkshire and much of the Pennine uplands were occupied by a loose association of tribes known as the Brigantes. The name seems to mean ‘the high one’, which is a suitable epithet for a group of people living in the more mountainous regions of Britain. In East Yorkshire, their neighbours were another tribe called the Parisii, who appear to have had connections with the Seine valley. This accounts for the similarity of their name to that of the capital of modern France.

Historians know little about the Brigantes before the arrival of the Romans. Presumably their ruler at the time was one of those who surrendered to Claudius at Colchester in AD 43, but they are not mentioned by name. By the early 50s AD they were being ruled by Queen Cartimandua. She lost her control of the tribe in AD 69, following an uprising led by her ex-husband Venutius. The Romans put down the rebellion and then went on to conquer the rest of northern Britain.

It seems probable that the tribal centre of the Brigantes was at Stanwick in North Yorkshire, but when the Romans set up an administrative centre to run their newly conquered province they chose Aldborough, also in North Yorkshire. The town is situated not far from the principal Roman road to the north, the line of which is still followed in many places by the modern A1, but its location may have been chosen for development because it was on or near one of the principal tribal centres.

See also: Ackton, YKS (Beckwith domain)