Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MALTON (NEw)

MALTON (NEw), a town and two parishes in Malton district, N. R. Yorkshire. The town stands on a gentle declivity, adjacent to the river Derwent, at the intersection of the York and Scarborough and the Driffield and Thirsk railways, 21¾ miles NE by N of York. It was called New Malton on account of a reconstruction of it in the 12th century; but, in common with Old Malton to the NE, and with Norton on the other side of the Derwent, it probably occupies the site of ancient British Villages, and certainly occupies the site of a Roman camp and town. No fewer than six ancient ways diverge from it; most or all of them perhaps originally trackways of the Brigantes; and all of them undonbtedly roads used, and at least improved, if not made, by the Romans. The tract around it appears, from very numerous traces of dwellings, burial-mounds, and other artificial objects, to have been more thickly peopled by the ancient Britons than any other part of Yorkshire; and it probably attracted the Romans to make a great central settlement at Malton, by the special facilities which it offered them in its cleared lands and its formed ways. A double Roman camp is still distinctly traceable on both sides of the Derwent; the larger and more distinct section of it is on the Norton side; the site of a Roman village, suburban to the Roman camp or town, is on the same side; and traces of Roman streets, several feet below the surface, have been found, in the course of drainage and other works, along the lines of a number of the modern streets. Some early antiquaries, quite against eVidence, supposed the Roman town here to have been Camalodunum; some later ones, with considerable show of evidence, coNtend that it was Derventio; and others are undecided as to its identity. Very numerous Roman relics, in great variety, have, at different times, been found in New Malton, in Old Malton, and in Norton; a fine cinerary urn was found at Norton in 1862; and the contents of a Roman cemetery, including human remains and very many curious objects of art, were discovered there near the end of 1866. Malton continued to be a place of some note in both the Saxon and the Norman times. The manor of it belonged to Colebrand the Dane; and was given by William the Conqueror to the family of De Vesci. A villa of King Edwin is thought by some writers to have stood at it; and, at least, stood somewhere on the Derwent. A nestle was built here by the De Vescis; was taken in 1135, by the Scots; and was besieged in the same year, but probably not retaken, by Archbishop Thurstan of York. The town was then burnt by the Archbishop: but, soon afterwards, was rebuilt by Eustace Fitz-John; and it then took the name of New Malton. The manor was inherited, by Fitz-John, through his mother, from the De Vescis; passed, in subsequent centuries, through Varions hands; and belongs now to Earl Fitzwilliam. Fitz-John, about the time of rebuilding the town, also founded a priory at Old Malton; and a grandson of his, in 121 3, received a visit from King John. A new castellated mansion, on the ruins or site-of the castle of the De Vescis, was built, in the time of James I., by Lord Evers; and, in consequence of a dispute respecting it by its founder's two granddaughters, it was taken down in 1674; but the lodge and the gateways of it still stand. The names of E. Burke, H. Gratton, and other distinguished senators are associated with the town, as having represented it in parliament.

The town is about ½ a mile long, well built, and clean: and contains many good modern houses. The marketplace is Very large; and is divided into two parts, by the town hall and St. Michael's church. The surrounding country is rich in interesting scenes and objects; and the elevated ground to the N. and to the W. commands views of the Wolds, with their romantic vales and heathy fells, backed by the bold ridge of the Harberton hills. The chief public buildings are the town hall, a courthouse, a corn-exchange, assembly rooms, a masonic hall, a theatre, a three-arched bridge, mechanics' and literary institutions, with library and news-rooms, a cattle market, two churches, seven dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, national and British schools, and a workhouse. The cattle market occupies about 3 acres; and includes shambles, erected by Earl Fitzwilliam. St. Mixhael's church is Norman and large; has undergone so much restoration and alteration, both exteriorly and interiorly, as to present a modern appearance; has a W tower; contains a fine old font; and was originally a chantry chapel to Old Malton priory, and afterwards a chapel of ease. St. Leonard's church is ancient and weather-worn; underwent repair in 1856, when three Norman arches, in the N wall of the chancel, were opened out; has a battlemented tower, with slated wooden spire, surmounted by an iron cross; contains two piscinæ and a Norman font; and also was originally a chantry chapel to Old Malton priory, and afterwards a chapel of ease. The dissenting chapels are Independent, Baptist, Quaker, Wesleyan, Primitive Methodist, United Free Methodist, and Unitarian. The lodge of the ancient castle stands on the E side of the town; presents interesting architectural features; is approached through three ancient gateways, two of them partially built up; and leads the way to the site of the ancient castle, and to numerous traces of the ancient Roman town. A hall connected with the lodge contains a fine collection of Roman and ancient British relics found in the neighbourhood; and has a series of beautiful oak carvings, of subjects in the history of Jonah. A new public cemetery was formed in 1860; and contains two chapels for respectively Churchmen an Dissenters. Waterworks were begun to be formed in the autumn of 1866, at an estimated cost of £4,000; were to be supplied by pumping from the Lady spring, near the town; and were to have a reservoir on the Castle-Howardroad

The town has a head post office,‡ two railway stations with telegraph, three banking offices, and three chief inns; is a seat of petty sessions, quarter sessions, and county courts, and a polling-place; and publishes two weekly newspapers. A weekly market is held on Saturday; fairs are held troughout the week before PalmSunday, on the Saturday before Whitsunday, the Saturday before 12 July, 11 Oct., and the Saturday before 23 Nov.; and industry is carried on in corn mills, breweries, malting establishments, tanneries, agricultural machine-works, and iron and brass foundries. The quarrying of limestone and whinstone, and the making of bricks, tiles, and drain-pipes are carried on in the neighbourhood. A considerable commerce formerly existed in the export of produce down the Derwent toward Hull; but was diminished, almost to extinction, by the opening of the railways. The town is a borough prescription; sent two members to parliament in the time of Edward I., and from 1640 till 1867, but was then reduced to sending one; and is governed by a bailiff, appointed at the court leet of Earl Fitzwilliam. Electors in 1833,657; in 1868,603The borough limits comprise the two parishes of New Malton, and the parishes of Old Malton and NortonPop. in 1851,7,661; in 1861,8,072. Houses, 1,694. The two New Malton parishes are St. Michael and St. Leonard; they were separated from Old Malton so late as 1855; and they jointly comprise 110 acres. Real property of St. M., £4,611. Pop. in 1851,1,634; in 1861, 1,566. Houses, 290. Real property of St. L., £5,015; in 1 861,2,221. Houses, 481. The livings are vicarages in the diocese of York. Value of St. M., £195;* of St. L., £195. Patron of both, Earl Fitzwilliam.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town and two parishes"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Malton CP       New Malton CP/PA       Malton RegD/PLU       Yorkshire AncC
Place names: MALTON     |     MALTON NEW     |     NEW MALTON
Place: Malton

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