Malton Priory, Old Malton,

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, is near to the town of Malton. It was founded as a monastery of the

Gilbertine Order The Gilbertine Order of Canons Regular was founded around 1130 by Saint Gilbert in Sempringham, Lincolnshire, where Gilbert was the parish priest. It was the only completely English religious order and came to an end in the 16th century at th ...

Eustace fitz John Eustace fitz John (died 1157), Constable of Chester, was a powerful magnate in northern England during the reigns of Henry I, Stephen and Henry II. From a relatively humble background in South East England, Eustace made his career serving Henry I ...

, the lord of

Malton Castle Malton Castle was a castle in Malton, North Yorkshire, England. A wooden motte and bailey castle was built by William Tyson, lord of Alnwick in the 11th century, on the site of the Roman fort of Derventio Brigantum. The castle was given to Eus ...

. Fitz John founded both Malton Priory and

Watton Priory Watton Priory was a priory of the Gilbertine Order at Watton in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The double monastery was founded in 1150 by Eustace fitz John. The present building dates mainly from the fourteenth and fifteenth centuri ...

around 1150; some sources suggest that this was an act of penance for his support for the Scots in the Battle of the Standard. The prior was accused of taking part in the

Pilgrimage of Grace The Pilgrimage of Grace was a popular revolt beginning in Yorkshire in October 1536, before spreading to other parts of Northern England including Cumberland, Northumberland, and north Lancashire, under the leadership of Robert Aske. The "most ...

.Gilbertine houses: Priory of Malton
''A History of the County of York'': Volume 3 (1974), pp. 253-254 (

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text), accessed via

British History Online ''British History Online'' is a digital library of primary and secondary sources on medieval and modern history of Great Britain and Ireland. It was created and is managed as a cooperative venture by the Institute of Historical Research, Univer ...

20 January 2014. After the Dissolution, the site was bought in 1540 by

Robert Holgate Robert Holgate (1481/1482 – 1555) was Bishop of Llandaff from 1537 and then Archbishop of York (from 1545 to 1554). He recognised Henry VIII as head of the Church of England. Although a protege of Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, Holga ...

, the former master of the Gilbertine Order, who was then

Bishop of Llandaff The Bishop of Llandaff is the ordinary of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. Area of authority The diocese covers most of the County of Glamorgan. The bishop's seat is in the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul (the site of ...

. In 1545 Holgate became Archbishop of York. He founded three grammar schools in Yorkshire, including Malton School (on part of the monastic site).

Priory church

The priory's main surviving building is the church, which is now a parish church. It is the only church of the Gilbertine Order still in regular use.St Mary the Virgin, Old Malton
/ref> The priory church is much abused, though impressive. The depletion of the church was gradual. For example; the upper level of the nave (the clerestory) was removed and the roof lowered in the 1730s. This alteration is not immediately apparent as the west front retains its full height, the only clue being the blocked upper portions of the main west window. What now remains is the lowered

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

and one of the original two west towers. The nave

aisle An aisle is, in general, a space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, certain types of buildings, such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, par ...

crossing tower A crossing, in ecclesiastical architecture, is the junction of the four arms of a cruciform (cross-shaped) church. In a typically oriented church (especially of Romanesque and Gothic styles), the crossing gives access to the nave on the west, ...

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

and

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse. Ov ...

have all long since vanished, for the most part. However, the lower parts of some of the original chancel pillars survive as ruins east of the nave, as do the remains of a chapel (including archway, bits of two walls, a piscina and a corner shaft) which once led off from the south side of the chancel. The nave still shows evidence of a serious fire in 1500 which led to a partial rebuilding. There was also a major restoration in the nineteenth century by

Temple Moore Temple Lushington Moore (7 June 1856 – 30 June 1920) was an English architect who practised in London. He is famed for a series of fine Gothic Revival churches built between about 1890 and 1917 and also restored many churches and designed ch ...

Burials

William de Aton, 2nd Baron Aton Sir William de Aton, 2nd Baron Aton, of Ayton and Malton Yorkshire was a 13th–14th century English noble. He died . Life William was the son and heir of Gilbert de Aton of Ayton. Baron Aton was summoned to a Council in October 1359, and to ...

William FitzHugh, 4th Baron FitzHugh William FitzHugh, 4th Baron FitzHugh ( 1399 – 22 October 1452) was an English nobleman and Member of Parliament. Born at Ravensworth, North Riding of Yorkshire, England. He was the son of Henry FitzHugh, 3rd Baron FitzHugh and Elizabeth ...

References

* Colin Platt. ''The Travellers Guide to Medieval England'' (London: Secker & Warburg, 1985), pp. 172–73.

External links

St Mary's Priory Church, Old Malton
- official site {{coord, 54.1425, -0.7791, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monasteries in North Yorkshire Religious organizations established in the 1150s Gilbertine monasteries Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Churches in North Yorkshire 1150s establishments in England Grade I listed churches in North Yorkshire Malton, North Yorkshire Grade I listed monasteries

Priory church

Burials

See also

References

External links