Old Malton, North Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Malton, Old, a village and a parish in the N.R. Yorkshire. The village stands on the river Derwent, 1 mile NE of New Malton, and 1 from Malton station on the N.E.R., is mentioned in Domesday book, took the name of Old Malton at the time when the neighbouring town took that of New Malton, has always-from the earliest period-shared in that town's history and interests, participates with it in certain rights of commonage, consists chiefly of one long street occupied mostly by farmers and labourers, and has remains of a Gil-bertine priory, a church, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, and Plymouth Brethren chapels, and a grammar school. The priory was founded in 1150 by Eustace Fitz-John, became the burial-place of St Gilbert himself and the head one of all his monasteries, was very richly endowed, suffered great decay in its buildings immediately after the Reformation, and is now represented mainly by the nave of its church, which is used as the parish church. The church in its original form comprised nave, aisles, transepts, and chapels, and had a large central tower and two fine W towers. In 1636 the high central tower was taken down, and a fire at the time seems to have destroyed the south aisle. In 1732 the parishioners took down the remaining aisle and clerestory and removed the choir. In 1877 the W tower was underpinned and repaired at a cost of £3000. The restoration of the church itself took place in 1889, when the floor was lowered to its original level, and the old roof replaced by a new one of oak in the 15th century style. The priory must have been a magnificent pile. Nave, 142" feet in length, with aisles of 8 bays; transepts, with two square eastern chapels; an aisled choir, beyond which was the sanctuary. Sir Gilbert Scott said- " This church is a magnificent remain of one of the noblest periods of medisBval art." Originally, and until some fifty years ago, Old Malton was the mother church, being the parish church of Old and New Malton. A picturesque residence called the Abbey stands adjacent, and was built out of the church's ruins, and it has a cellar which was anciently a crypt. The churchyard contains a number of curious monumental inscriptions, and a building adjoins it which was originally the grammar school and is still used as a school-house. Three hospitals were connected with the priory; one at what is now the Cross Keys Inn, in Wheelgate; another at Broughton, about a mile to the N; the third on an island in the Derwent, or on the Norton side of the river. A crypt of the first of these hospitals still exists, is nearly square, and has a strongly groined Norman roof, resting on massive cylindrical columns with' sculptured capitals, and having grotesque bosses at the inter-sections of the ribs. A cemetery of half an acre was formed in 1883, and is under the control of a burial board. The grammar school was founded in 1546 by Archbishop Holgate. It has an endowment, and is still used for teaching. Post town and money order and telegraph office, New Malton. The parish contains also the hamlet of Wykeham, and comprises 3931 acres of land and 31 of water; population of the civil parish, 1844; of the ecclesiastical, 915. The manor belongs to Earl Fitzwilliam. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York; gross value, £210. Patron, Earl Fitzwilliam.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Yorkshire | |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Malton St. Mary | |
| Riding | North | |
| Wapentake | Ryedale |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in conjunction with various Archives, Local Studies, and Family History Societies have the following parish records online for Old Malton:
| Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1606-1914 | 1721-1900 | 1606-1930 | 1609-1941 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Old Malton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Malton, Old (St. Mary))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the North Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Old Malton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following North Riding newspapers online: