Modern day visitors to the High Street will find a wide street, laid out to accommodate the important fairs and markets of the Middle Ages, now retaining many fine Georgian buildings, quite a large number of which were formerly inns or alehouses. Some remain, such as the Black Bull and the Golden Lion, both former coaching inns, reminders of Northallerton's prominent position on the Great North Road. Among the noteworthy 18th century buildings, in local hand made brick, is the old Grammar school, 1776, standing between the Buck Inn and All Saints Church. The earliest reference to a grammar school here is 1322. Behind, towards the cemetery, is the wall which has enclosed a succession of at least 4 vicarages since well before 1300. Beyond, the Old Cemetery is the site of the Bishop's Palace, where the moat can still be seen although now dry, so lacking the swans which were kept when this was an important residence not only for the Bishop, (the lord of the manor), but also for V.I.P.s going north or south.

South of Porch House is the present Police station, a fine 18th century town house, and beyond, the striking Methodist Church, built in 1864 on the site of the Old Packhorse Inn. The Rutsen Hospital, formerly Vine House, was built on part of the site of the medieval Carmelite Friary, founded in 1356, which was given a burgage plot as well as the large area of land behind which now comprises the Friarage Hospital. The first building on the latter site since the middle ages was the former 'Sunbeck House', built as a Workhouse in 1857. Remains of some walling from the Friary can still be seen in Brompton Road.

One of the most imposing buildings on the High street, just beyond the round-a-bout, is Durham House, built by John Carr of York for Daniel Mitford in 1754.Its stone front was unusual for the time as carriage of stone to Northallerton before the railways was extremely expensive. So the rest of the building is brick! Its imposing gatehouse can still be seen on East Road. For comparison, the house now occupied by Ottakers and Thorntons is of very similar date.

Another extremely fine mid 18th century building is Register House on Zetland Street, completed in 1740 for the North Riding Magistrates as an office and residence for the Register of Deeds. When they then built a House of Correction, (the original cells are still there inside the present prison),in the 1780s, together with a Court House, since demolished, the magistrates ensured that the Quarter Sessions would find a permanent home in Northallerton. As Mick Riordan points out, this eventually led to County Hall being built here, when County Councils were set up. The first Clerk lived in Register House. Thus it remained in public hands until very recently and the house itself retains many original features. It used to face the High Street, with imposing gates where we now find the Yorkshire Bank.

Crossing the Street, the visitor can find the former theatre at the far end of the Tickle Toby yard. It was built in 1800 as one of a chain of theatres, including Richmond, belonging to Samuel Butler. Unfortunately the approach seems to have been plagued by pickpockets and in the 1830s it closed and became a Primitive Methodist church. Next door is another church, now United Reformed, a lovely building which formerly looked towards the Applegarth, and had its own burial ground.

Before 1800, the main road ran down to Thirsk, and traffic to Boroughbridge or Bedale went down Romanby Road and then Malpas Road. After accidents to coaches taking the corner too fast the Turnpike Trust built South Parade through the fields, but the large houses along it only appeared after the arrival of the Railway in 1841. At the far end is the Station Hotel, actually in Romanby parish, as is all west of Racecourse Lane. The hotel is older than it looks. The striking Edwardian front was put on by Oakleys, but underneath, and showing at the back, is a former coaching inn known as the Horse and Jockey, as the racecourse was just opposite. 1903-6 County Hall was built by W.Brierley of York….just where the main grandstand used to be. When the race meetings were still held, the station was very convenient, but the railway was also their downfall, as the main line bisected the course! The station was particularly busy in the late 19th /early20th century, with an adjacent cattle market, the coal depot, the linoleum factory and the milk depot all important customers. All but the milk depot have now gone ….as has the large station building, with its massive coal fire in the waiting room …and its W.H. Smiths !

We have omitted the north end of the town, where very briefly we had a second station. There were two tanneries and many weavers in the 18th century, with a steam cornmill and big timber yards in the 19th, so it was perhaps the 'working' end. But there were also imposing houses like Standard House. Before the railway, this was a close-knit community, where all lived and worked together.

Back in the centre, the Victorian Town Hall replaced the former shambles and, nearby, the medieval Toll Booth, reminding us that this always was, and remains, a market town!