Aldborough Roman Site

Under the village of Aldborough lies Isurium Brigantum, the Roman town that served as the capital of the Brigantes. It was probably made the tribe's administrative centre around 160 AD, and its stone walls went up in the middle of the third century. Today English Heritage looks after what can be seen: two mosaic floors still in place inside period buildings, a museum of Roman finds, and a stretch of the town's defences set out in a Victorian arboretum garden.

Plan this one for the warmer months. The site is closed through the winter and, in its 2026 season, opened only on Sundays and the third Friday of each month from April to October. That makes it a place to plan around rather than drop in on, and a spring or summer Sunday is the day to go.

From Tea Time Cafe on the Market Place, take the A168 south out of Thirsk and join the A1(M) southbound. Leave at the Boroughbridge junction, go through the town, and follow the road a mile south-east to Aldborough. The site is on Front Street. Allow about 20 minutes.

Roadside parking in the village is very limited. English Heritage suggests the large free car park in Boroughbridge, a mile away, which also puts you a short walk from the Devil's Arrows on the other side of town. We found no bus from Thirsk.

Start in the museum, which holds a collection of finds from the Roman town. Then see the two mosaic floors, which stay where they were laid and sit inside period cover buildings. The most famous Aldborough mosaic, the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, is now in Leeds City Museum, so what you see here is the in-place work.

Finish in the garden, where the Roman town defences run through a Victorian arboretum. Archaeology is still going on: since 2016 the University of Cambridge has led the Aldborough Roman Town Project, and English Heritage hosts an excavation each September, when the site stays open for self-led visits but guided tours stop. The Helicon Mosaic was found in the village in 1846.

Before you leave the village, look for the Battle Cross. It commemorates the Battle of Boroughbridge in 1322, and a 2026 study found it was carved from a segment of one of the lost Devil's Arrows.

The mosaics are the reason to come. Seeing a Roman floor in the place it was laid gives a much clearer sense of the rooms people lived in. The scale is the other strength: this is a small site that fits comfortably into an hour, which suits children and pairs easily with the Devil's Arrows and Boroughbridge for a half day. And the link to the stones is a good one for a family outing, since the legend says the Devil was aiming his arrows at this very village.

Check the date before anything else. Outside the season, or on a day that is not a Sunday or a third Friday, you will find the gate locked, and the 2027 dates were not out when we checked. Wear sturdy shoes, because there are steps round the grounds and the grass gets slippery after rain. Park in Boroughbridge if the village verges are full, and make a loop of it: the Devil's Arrows, the town, then Aldborough. English Heritage members get in free, so bring your card. Dogs are fine on a lead, but some areas are closed to them. If you go in September, the excavation is a bonus, though there are no guided tours while the dig is on.