Malton: History of Yorkshire’s food capital where Gentleman Jack was filmed and Charles Dickens was inspired

Malton is populated with traditional independent shops and has built a reputation for being the food capital of Yorkshire.

In 2017 and 2018, it was voted as one of the best places to live in Britain by The Sunday Times and Langton Hall was used as a filming location for the second series of BBC drama Gentleman Jack. The hall itself has a historic connection to Anne Lister.

Charles Dickens regularly visited Malton to see his friend Charles Smithson and some of the buildings in the town inspired him to write A Christmas Carol.

History of Malton

The oldest building in Malton dates back to the late first century AD when a Roman auxiliary fort was founded around 71AD under the governor Petilius Cerialis, around the same time as Eboracum.

The site was established on the north bank of the River Derwent and a large civilian settlement developed opposite the fort, on the south of the river at Norton.

A single Roman cavalry unit, the Ala Gallorum Picentiana, is also recorded from the site and the Romans left in 429AD when the empire collapsed.

The site remained occupied across four centuries, particularly in the Trajanic, Severan, Constantian and Theodosian periods and is known for the manufacture of jet jewellery.

By the year 1138, there was evidence of settlement in what was then referred to as New Malton and Old Malton was also founded in the 1100s.

The earliest existence of a market in New Malton was recorded in a 1283 document, referencing that craftsmen, butchers and others were selling their wares.

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In the early 11th century during the Norman Conquest, a wooden Norman castle, Malton Castle, was built in what is now called Castle Garden. It was rebuilt in stone by Eustace de Vescy by the time Richard the Lionheart visited the castle in 1189.

Other visitors included Edward II in 1307 and Robert the Bruce in 1322 and the great house ultimately fell into ruin.

The Talbot Hotel, which is still standing and has been renovated, dates back to the early 17th century and is thought to contain pieces of the medieval town wall. The hotel was originally used as a hunting lodge and became an inn in 1740.

Whilst now it is considered the region’s food capital, the locals experienced famine in the area in the last year of the 18th century, and a soup kitchen was set up in a brew house. The Earl Fitzwilliam at the time contributed to a fund, which helped provide ‘good strong soup’ for the poor.

The population of Old and New Malton increased to 3,788 in 1801 and the workhouse contained 15 elderly people and 17 children.

The town saw a vast improvement by 1840 through the building of houses, and gas works were constructed in 1832, according to an edition of Whitby Gazette. The streets of Malton were lit with gas for the first time in November 1832 and the first electric light was lit in 1893.

Medical services were being provided by The Dispensary on Saville Street by 1835, which preceded the Malton Cottage Hospital. It wasn’t until 1841 that dental care arrived at Malton provided by barbers.

A seven-foot-long British oak canoe was found on a farm of Mr Hebden Flowers of South Holme in 1869; the relic was taken to Malton and passed over to the Yorkshire Philosophical Society’s museum.

By the year 1881, the population increased further to 8,750 and newer industries were introduced in New Malton including iron and brass.

The development of the local railway flourished during the mid-1880s including the York to Scarborough line which opened in 1845 and the Malton and Driffield Junction Railway which opened in 1853. The Malton railway station is now Grade II listed.

In more recent history, electricity was installed during the early 1900s and before the Second World War, several buildings were built, including the Court House, Cottage Hospital and Police Station. The town was bombed during the war.