Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MALTON (OLD)

MALTON (OLD), a village and a parish in Malton district, N. R. Yorkshire. The village stands on the river Derwent, 1 mile NE of New Malton; is mentioned in Domesday book; took the name of Old Malton at the time when the neighbouring town took that of New Malton; h as 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 Gilbertine priory, a church, two dissenting chapels, a grammar school, and a national 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 churchThe church, in its original form, comprised nave, aisles, transepts, and chapels; and had a large central tower, and two fine W towers. The chancel was taken down, and the present E window inserted, in 1734; and extensive restorations were made in 1844. The doorway of the W front is a very rich Norman arch, springing from the capitals of seven columns on each side; and the window above it is a pointed one of five lights, now partially walled up. The SW tower still stands, but is in a time worn condition; and the NW tower has been reduced to the mere basement. The central tower was taken down in 1636. The cloister was quadrangular, and on the S side of the church. 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 intersections of the ribs. The grammar school was founded in 1546, by Archbishop Holgate; and has £96 a year from endowment.—The parish contains also the hamlet of Wycombe, and comprises 3,983 acres. Post town, New Malton. Real property, £8,9 43. Pop. in 1851,1,505; in 1861,1,302. Houses, 294. The decrease of pop. arose from the removal of labourers employed on railway works. The manor belongs to Earl Fitzwilliam. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York. Value, £170. Patron, Earl Fitzwilliam.


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Old Malton CP/AP       Malton RegD/PLU       Yorkshire AncC
Place names: MALTON     |     MALTON OLD     |     OLD MALTON
Place: Old Malton

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