The town was known as Petuaria during the Roman period, and served as the capital of the Celtic tribe of the Parisi. Petuaria marked the southern end of the Roman road known now as Cade's Road which ran roughly northwards for a hundred miles to Pons Aelius (modern day Newcastle upon Tyne).
The town's name is simply from the Old Englishburh meaning "fortification" and is thus related to the terms borough and burgh.[2]
Brough was created a town by the Archbishop of York in 1239, granted the same liberties as Beverley. There is no record of these liberties having been employed, and the settlement operated as a village for further centuries.[3]
The town is significant for its association with the highwayman Dick Turpin. About June 1737 Turpin boarded at the Ferry Inn at Brough, under the alias of John Palmer (or Parmen). Turpin travelled between and resided in Brough, until his capture and execution for horse theft in 1739.[citation needed]
Demographics
All Saints’ Church
Over the past couple of years, there has been a shift in the socio-economic group of people living in Brough because of improved rail links and new housing developments, most recently the Brough South development. This change has brought more money into the area. As a result, the average wage rate and amount of spending has increased significantly.
Amenities
Brough has a range of shops and takeaways, and two supermarkets: Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury's Local, with a Lidl planned to be built. There are two dentists, two vets, hairdressers, a medical centre, a private hearing aid audiologist, a post office. Brough also has a couple of public houses.
Education
Primary education at Brough is provided by Brough Primary School[4] and newly moved, Hunsley Primary, previously near the secondary school in Melton. The nearest secondary school is South Hunsley School and Sixth Form College[5] is approximately 2 miles (3 km) to the east of the town in Melton.
The town lies 1 mile (1.6 km) south of the main A63 from Hull to the M62. It is about 1 mile (1.6 km) to the A63 junction east, 2 miles (3.2 km) to the junction west (and then a further 4 miles (6.4 km) to the M62 motorway). Humberside Airport is 19 miles (31 km) to the south-east (reached by driving across the Humber Bridge), and overnight ferry services by P&O Ferries sail to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge from King George Dock, Hull (about 13 miles (21 km) away).
BAE Systems
BAE Systems factory in Brough.
BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace), Brough, manufactured the Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer aircraft[8] at Brough Aerodrome. BAE provided apprenticeships to local school leavers. The runway at the site was re-opened for a while[when?] for occasional use solely by Hawk aircraft taking off after manufacture to transfer by air to Warton near Preston in Lancashire for final flight testing and painting[9][10] though the former Air Traffic Control building has now been transformed into the Brough Business Centre.[11]
On 3 April 2008 BAE Systems announced it would be losing 450 jobs from the Brough site.[12] On 1 March 2012 BAE Systems announced it would be ending manufacturing at its site in Brough with 845 employees to be made redundant.[13] Manufacturing at the plant ceased on Christmas Eve 2020.[14]
There are now proposals to build over much of the airfield - including the runway.[15] As of 2020, construction on the runway has started with phase two of the Brough South development (Brough Relief Road).
