OLD MALTON
Maltune (xi cent.); Maaltun, Old Mealton
(xii cent.); Meauton (early xiii cent.).
The parish of Old Malton still included in the
16th century the two chapelries of New Malton
(q.v.) which had become separate ecclesiastical parishes
by 1831, (fn. 1) and were not afterwards ecclesiastically
united to Old Malton, though Old and New Malton
were by Local Government Board Order of 1 October
1896 formed into one civil parish of Malton. Two
small places, Howe and Wykeham (or West Wykeham)
by Malton are mentioned from the 13th to the 18th
century. (fn. 2) The area of the civil parish is 4,017 acres,
of which 2,191 acres are arable, 1,209 acres permanent grass and 36 acres woods and plantations. (fn. 3)
The height varies from 70 ft. to 175 ft. above ordnance
datum. The parish lies on the corallian beds, with
alluvium by the River Derwent. Quarries in Old
Malton belonged from the 13th century to Malton
Priory, (fn. 4) and there are still large limestone and
whinstone quarries in the parish. Remains of the
Neolithic, Bronze and Roman periods have been
found. (fn. 5)
There is a camp on the west side of the road from
York to Pickering. The high road from Hovingham
through the 'street' villages runs westward; Wade's
Causeway runs northward towards Whitby, and an
important road leads eastward to Bridlington. (fn. 6)
The village of Old Malton lies on the road to
Pickering, though a few cottages are built along Westgate, which runs westward from about the middle of
the village. The Derwent flowing from the north on
the east side of the village here takes a double bend
almost touching the main road. South of the bend
stood the priory of Gilbertine canons founded here
in the 12th century by Eustace son of John. (fn. 7) The
church stands here in a large churchyard, and, when
originally built, must have extended as far as the
river. The cottages are of stone and generally have
tiled roofs. On the west side of the road a little to
the north of the church stands the house where the
vicar of the parish now resides, a 17th-century building
known as Hunters Hall. Inside is a remarkably fine
oak staircase with moulded balusters and handrail. At
the north end of the village is a stone pound.
Lascelles Lane, which runs eastward, commemorates
a family which had a capital messuage in Old Malton
in the 13th century when they granted all their
possessions here to the priory. (fn. 8) Lasselhouse here is
mentioned in 1543. (fn. 9) In the thickly wooded plantation
of Doodale, north of the bend in the river, are remains
of earthworks. The Spital House of Old Malton is
mentioned in 1599. (fn. 10)
In 1625 William Lord Eure, lord of the manor,
and the tenants, inhabitants and freeholders made an
agreement for a division of the lands and demesnes of
this manor by inclosures, an arrangement confirmed
by the Archbishop of York, (fn. 11) who had property in
Malton. (fn. 12) In 1794 two common fields were inclosed,
one of 416 acres, the other of 14 acres. (fn. 13)
A Wesleyan chapel was erected at Old Malton in
1824 and a Primitive Methodist in 1857. A way
called 'Braystale gate' (fn. 14) in Old Malton is mentioned
in the 13th century. (fn. 15) Some local names are: Great
Sike Road, Riggs Road, Wise House, Rixt Woods,
Espersykes, Cheapsides, Bartindale and Outgang Gate.
Manor
The manor of OLD MALTON
followed the descent of that of New
Malton (q.v.), but on the death of
William de Ayton became the undivided property
of the Eures. (fn. 16) William Eure, Sheriff of Yorkshire
in 1497, (fn. 17) had a younger son Henry, (fn. 18) perhaps the
Henry who in 1476 alluded to 'my manor of Old
Malton.' (fn. 19) In 1555 it was stated that William Eure
was seised of the manor of New Malton and granted
it to Henry Eure and his issue with remainders to
John Eure son of William, the grantor, and his heirs
and to Robert Eure and his heirs, by which grant,
when Henry died without issue, the manor descended
to John Eure, then to his son William, then to
William's son Roger (fn. 20) and to Roger's son Ralph.
Roger Eure in 1551–2 died seised of the manor,
leaving a son and heir Ralph (fn. 21) who died in 1554
and was followed by a posthumous son and heir
John. This 'manor of New Malton' must have
been Old Malton, which was 'a member' of New
Malton. (fn. 22) In 1576–7 John son of Ralph had
livery, (fn. 23) but in 1595 the manor was in the hands
of the head of the family, (fn. 24) and it afterwards descended
with the Eure share of New Malton (fn. 25) (q.v.), and is
now in the possession of Earl Fitzwilliam. In 1619
Ralph Eure of New Malton obtained free warren
in Old Malton. (fn. 26)
Land in WICKHAM (Wicumbe, Wycun, Wycum,
xiii-xvi cent.) in Old Malton followed the descent of
that manor, though tenements here belonged to the
Basset fee. (fn. 27) In the 13th century land held by a
family bearing the territorial name was granted to
the priory, (fn. 28) which obtained 7 oxgangs here and in
Old Malton from Cecily de Well and John de Kirkby
and Isabel his wife in 1316. (fn. 29)
Land at HOWE (Hou, xiii cent.) was also parcel
of the manor of Old Malton, and here too the canons
obtained possessions in the 13th century. (fn. 30)
The site of the priory followed the descent of the
advowson (q.v.), with which it passed into the hands
of Lord Malton in 1728. It is now in the possession
of Earl Fitzwilliam.
Church
The church of ST. MARY THE
VIRGIN consists of a chancel and nave
in one range 106 ft. 6 in. by 28 ft. 2 in.,
formed from the six western bays of the nave of the
church of the Gilbertine monastery (the chancel
occupying two and the nave four), and a south-west
tower 10 ft. 6 in. by 14 ft. 11 in. These measurements are all internal.
Nothing remains of the monastic church east of
the nave but the lower parts of the west piers of
the central tower and portions of the east bay of the
south aisle with the cloister door which can be seen
to the east of the present church; the undercroft of
the frater of the conventual establishment is now
incorporated in the basement of a house lying to the
south of the church. Though the building of the
church was started at the east end c. 1180 and the
work appears to have been continuous, operations
proceeded but slowly, and the west front is of a distinctly developed Gothic character, as are the westernmost piers of the south arcade of the nave, though
the mouldings of their capitals and bases are of the
same section as the earlier ones. The nave of
the monastic church was much higher than the
present one, but although vaulting shafts are carried
up above the piers of the arcades it appears never
to have been vaulted. The aisles, however (which
are now completely demolished save for a small
portion of the north and south walls to the west
of the piers of the central tower), were vaulted
with diagonal ribbed vaulting as seen from the
springers of the ribs over the piers of the south
arcade of the nave. The church originally had two
western towers, but, although the southern one stands
in its entirety, only the foundations of the northern
one remain. The remaining piers of the south
arcade are considerably calcined, probably by a fire
in the 15th century which badly damaged the north
arcade and rendered necessary the rebuilding of its
three western bays and the insertion of new piers
under the next three bays to the east. It was then
probably that the northern tower was destroyed and
the solid wall built on the western bay of the nave
arcade. The rebus of Prior Roger (Bolton) upon
the capital of one of the new piers and upon the
corbel of one of the vaulting shafts suggests that this
rebuilding took place late in the 15th or early in the
16th century. (fn. 31)
The priory was bought in 1540 for a valuable
consideration by Robert Holgate, then Bishop of
Llandaff and afterwards Archbishop of York. (fn. 32) The
central tower was then still standing, but in 1636 it
was pulled down as being unsafe, and in 1734 the
quire met with the same fate.
Plan of Old Malton Church
The nave in its original state was lofty and of fine
proportions and was lighted by a clearstory and large
west window. The present walls, however, stop just
above the triforium gallery. The easternmost remaining piers of the old nave arcade are partly
embedded in the east wall of the present building,
as are all the remaining piers of the north arcade, but
the south wall is thinner and built centrally between
the old piers. The three eastern lancets were inserted
in 1862, but they are now blocked up on the inside
and covered by a reredos and baldacchino. The three
easternmost arches of the north arcade are semicircular
and of three orders, the innermost moulded with a
double chamfer, while each outer order has a pointed
bowtel between hollows with a quirked bead on the
vertical face and a half-round hood mould. They
are of original date, but the octagonal piers upon
which they are carried date from the late 15th
century and have moulded capitals and bases standing
upon plinths, the westernmost being ornamented with
a double row of panels having cinquefoiled heads
under crocketed and finialled ogee hood moulds which
are separated at the angles of the pier by crocketed
pinnacles. The plinth is ornamented with panelling
of a flowing character, and in the bell of the capital,
which has an embattled abacus, is the following
mutilated inscription in well-formed black-letter
characters: 'Rogerus prior Orate p[ro] bono stat[u]
m[agist]ri F. . . .' The remainder of the inscription
is embedded in the wall with the northern faces of the
capital. The Bolton rebus, a tun pierced by a bolt,
is repeated three times between 'Rogerus' and 'prior,'
which are inverted, between 'bono' and 'statu' and
after 'magistri.' On the south face of the pier now
built into the north-east angle and on the south-east
face of the pier next to the west are single panels
with cinquefoiled heads, while there is an image
bracket on the west face of the third pier. The
15th-century arches of the next two bays are twocentred and of two orders, the inner chamfered and
the outer moulded with a wide casement. Both have
labels, repeated in plaster upon the built-up western
bay adjoining, from the wall face of which the western
arch springs, and upon the east face of which is a
niche with a crocketed canopy. The remaining pier
of the north arcade is composed of clusters of three
shafts at the cardinal points separated by semicircular
hollows. The shafts have moulded octagonal capitals
and bases and stand on a high octagonal plinth. In
the walls inserted in the four eastern bays are small
semicircular-headed openings with deep internal splays
and a small external chamfer, while in the fifth bay
is a blocked-up doorway with a three-centred head.
The arches of the south arcade, the westernmost of
which carries the north wall of the south-west tower,
are semicircular and of the original date of the building, their mouldings corresponding with those of the
eastern bays of the north arcade. The pier embedded
in the south-east angle and the three piers to the west
are circular, while the fourth is of four keels separated
by small angle shafts. The large western pier, which
carries the tower arch, consists of a cluster of twelve
shafts separated by hollows, those at the cardinal points
being filleted keels, while the west respond has a keel
between four attached shafts. All the piers of this
arcade have moulded capitals of the same section and
water-holding bases. In the wall inserted in the
eastern bay is a single-light semicircular-headed window
with deeply splayed inner jambs and external chamfer
similar to those in the opposite wall. In the next
bay are two similar lights, the jamb of the eastern
one meeting the pier, while in the centre of the next
two bays are single lights of the same kind. The
blocked arcades of the original triforium still survive,
except in the three western bays of the north wall,
where they have been replaced by panelling contemporary with the later arches below. The vaulting
shafts, which now only support the tie-beams of the
modern roof, divide the triforium stage into bays
corresponding with those of the arcades below, and
the sill level is marked by a moulded string-course,
broken and raised over the rebuilt arches on the
north. In each of the surviving bays of the original
work are three main arches springing from detached
jamb shafts with moulded capitals and bases, the side
arches narrow and acutely pointed and the middle
arch wide and semicircular, and inclosing two acutelypointed sub-arches springing from central shafts. The
carved corbels carrying the vaulting shafts are either
scalloped or carved with 'stiff-leaved' foliage, and
interrupt the sill string which is carried round them.
In the later portion of the north wall the vaulting
shafts spring from angels holding shields on which is
repeated the Bolton rebus. The fine but considerably
restored west doorway has a semicircular head in five
orders of rolls and hollows, enriched with dog-tooth
ornament under a moulded hood mould dying into
carved stops of trefoil leaves, and carried by detached
jamb shafts having central annulets and carved
capitals with water-holding bases. Above the doorway is a large late 15th-century window of five
cinquefoiled lights under a modern three-centred
head with tracery; the upper part of the window
is blocked. The outer jambs of the window have
13th-century shafts considerably curtailed, evidently
the jamb shafts of a pair of lancets which it replaces.
On either side between the window and the tower
buttresses are pointed recesses of a single order with
a moulded hood mould over, carried on jamb shafts
with carved capitals, moulded bases and central
annulets. In the inner buttresses of the towers are
corresponding recesses.
A modern low-pitched lead roof covers the existing
chancel and nave. The ground stage of the south-west
tower, which is vaulted with modern vaulting, opened
into the south aisle through a pointed arch of the same
section as those of the nave arcade, carried on the
south by a respond of clustered shafts having moulded
capitals and bases, and on the north by the western pier
of the arcade. Between these a thin wall has been
inserted with a pointed doorway having an external
continuous chamfer. On the west is a large lancet
window of three orders of rolls and hollows; the inner
one, which is much restored and decorated with a
form of ball-flower ornament, is continuous, the outer
ones being carried on detached shafts having carved
capitals and moulded bases. The two outer shafts
are missing, and the inner one on the north is
modern. The hood mould terminates in carved
stops. The window has wide inner splays with angle
shafts having carved capitals and moulded bases
carried on carved corbels. In the buttress on the north
and the remaining south one of the demolished north
tower are small pointed recesses of a single order,
moulded with rolls and hollows and having moulded
dripstones terminating in carved stops. The arches
spring from the same level as those to the window,
and are carried by detached shafts with moulded
bases and carved capitals, the abaci of which are carried
across the front of the building, forming common
abaci to the shafts of the windows or openings which
interrupt it. These recesses are repeated on either
side of the western doorway close up against the side
buttresses of the tower. On the south is a modern
window of a similar character to that on the west.
The floor of the ringing chamber is marked by a
moulded string-course enriched with dog-tooth ornament. This was originally carried right across the
front of the building, but is now cut into by the
15th-century west window of the nave. The ringing
chamber is lighted on the west by a large pointed
window of three orders of a similar character to the
one lighting the ground stage, but the inner order
has a plain chamfer and the two outer ones are carried
by shafts having carved capitals with moulded bases
and central annulets. Over the head is a moulded
hood mould terminating in carved stops. In the
north buttress is a panel with a pointed head of one
order with a moulded hood mould, carried on shafts
similar to and at the same level as those to the ringing chamber window. On the south is an arcade of
three pointed arches of a single order carried on single
shafts similar to those on the west, with moulded hood
moulds over, which stop against the buttresses at the
sides and meet in carved stops over the two middle
shafts. Under the centre arch is a lancet of a single
chamfered order. Lighting the bell-chamber on the
west are two large pointed openings, filled in with
wooden louvres, of two orders with a moulded hood
mould carved with dog-tooth enrichment. The inner
order is chamfered, while the outer is moulded with
a roll between two hollows and is carried upon shafts
similar to those to the window below. Immediately
above each light is a circle enriched with dog-tooth
ornament and pierced with a quatrefoil, while above
these are seven corbels which carry the parapet. On
the south is an arcade of three arches carried on shafts
of the same character as those to the arcade under.
The two side bays are open and filled with louvres,
while above these both this and the east wall, in
which the only other opening is a round-headed light
above the level of the original triforium roof, are
pierced by quatrefoiled circles with corbel tables
above, like those of the west wall. On the north
wall above the present roof of the nave can be seen
the remains of the old clearstory arcade.
In the floor of the chancel is part of a late 13thcentury tomb slab, while in the churchyard to the
east of the existing building are three stone coffins,
one of which is quite small and evidently that of a
child. Incorporated in the modern quire stalls are
several 15th-century bench ends and misericordes.
Reset between the remaining wall of the north
aisle and the east wall of the present church is a late
12th-century round-headed doorway with a fine
'bird's beak' enriched order carried on jamb shafts,
while in the remaining wall of the south aisle, just
west of the crossing, is the doorway, already referred
to as opening into the cloisters, the jamb shafts of
which are now missing. To the east of this is a
small piscina set in the wall.
There are three bells: the first, by Samuel Smith
of York, is inscribed 'Venite Exultemus Domino
1685'; the second, inscribed 'Gloria in excelsis Deo
1685,' is by the same maker; while the third is
without any maker's mark and is inscribed 'Slepe
not in sinne.'
The plate consists of a communion cup, chalice and
paten of silver, electro-plated flagon and paten and a
pewter flagon, dish and plate. The cup of 1732 bears
the inscription, 'Peter Walmsley Minister Willm Hird
Willm Linwood Churchwardens Anno Domini 1736.'
The chalice and paten are modern silver-gilt vessels
of mediaeval design and were presented by Susanna
Kinnear in 1889. The electro-plated flagon and
paten have no date, neither has the pewter dish.
The pewter flagon and plate are probably of the
late 17th century.
The register dates from 1600.
Advowson
The church is mentioned in the
Domesday Survey, (fn. 33) and was given,
with all its chapels and lands, (fn. 34) by
Eustace son of John to the Gilbertine Priory he had
founded at Old Malton, a donation confirmed by the
pope in 1253. (fn. 35) The priory surrendered in 1539, (fn. 36)
and in 1540 a grant in fee was made to Robert
Holgate, Bishop of Llandaff, of the house and site of
the priory, the church, steeple and churchyard of the
same, the demesne lands and fishery in the Derwent,
as fully as the prior had had them. (fn. 37) This grant
seems to have been superseded, for in 1540–1 the
rectory of Old and New Malton was leased for
twenty-one years to George Dakyns of Settrington, (fn. 38)
and in 1545 it was again granted to Holgate, then
Archbishop of York, and his successors with the
advowson of the vicarage of Old Malton (of which
this is the first mention). (fn. 39) The patronage was
exchanged by the Archbishop of York in 1728 with
Lord Malton, (fn. 40) and has descended with the manor of
New Malton (q.v.) to the present Earl Fitzwilliam,
but the rectory still belonged in 1842 to the
archbishop. (fn. 41)
Charities
For the Free Grammar School,
founded by Robert Halgate alias
Holgate, Archbishop of York, by
deed dated 4 May 1547, under Letters Patent dated
24 October 1546, see schools founded by Archbishop
Holgate. (fn. 42) The school is regulated by a scheme of
the Charity Commissioners dated 14 February 1902.
Under the authority of an order of the Board of
Education 14 June 1906 the site and buildings of the
old school and the master's house and premises adjoining
the churchyard of the former priory church were sold,
together with 2 a. 3 r. 11 p. of arable land abutting
on Eden House Road, for £860. Out of the proceeds of the sale, and borrowed money, new school
buildings have been erected in Middlecave Road.
The school is carried on by a scheme under the
Endowed Schools Acts, and under a further order
dated 10 January 1910, as a mixed secondary school,
approved and inspected by the Board of Education,
with financial aid from the local authorities. Certain
rent-charges also constitute the endowment.
A rent-charge of £5 a year issuing out of land in the
parish of Rillington in the East Riding is distributed
under the name of Spencer's Dole. The annuity is
received from Mr. Thomas Collinson and distributed
in sums of 3s. to each recipient.
Edward Barton, by will proved at York 15 August
1843, left a legacy, represented by £117 14s. 3d.
consols with the official trustees. The annual
dividends, amounting to £2 18s. 10d., are in
pursuance of the trusts applied in the distribution
of money among poor widows of Old and New
Malton.
William Charles Copperthwaite, will proved at York
9 May 1890, bequeathed a legacy, represented by
£263 2s. 8d. consols with the official trustees, the
annual income thereof, amounting to £6 11s. 4d.,
to be applied under a scheme of the Charity
Commissioners 18 December 1903 for the benefit of
a poor person, to be chosen annually, who has been
not less than ten years a member of the Camulodunum
Lodge of Freemasons.
Henry Pickering, by will proved 1894, bequeathed
£100, the income to be applied towards current
expenses of the Society of Friends.