Norton-on-Derwent

The name Norton is derive from "north farmstead or village", being a settlement to the north of another.^[2]

In the Domesday Book Norton is listed three times, as "Nortone" in the Buckrose wapentake of the East Riding of Yorkshire.^[3]

At the foot of the bridge between Norton and Malton in the reign of Henry II was a hospital dedicated to St Nicholas, founded by Roger de Flamvill, and governed by the canons of Malton. In 1823 Norton was in the Wapentake of Buckrose and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Population at the time was 1017. Occupations included five farmers, one of whom was also a lime burner, two blacksmiths, four butchers, six grocers, five shoemakers, three tailors, two horse jockeys, a horse trainer, three raff merchants (dealers in lumber and odd refuse), two schoolmasters, a corn miller, saddler, stonemason, linen draper, cabinet maker, roper, gardener, fellmonger, wheelwright, overseer, and surgeon, and the landlords of The Bay Horse, and The Oak Tree public houses. Resident were fifteen members of the gentry.^[4]

There are two tiers of local government covering Norton, at parish (town) and unitary authority level: Norton-on-Derwent Town Council and North Yorkshire Council. The town council is based at the Old Courthouse on Commercial Street.^[5]

Norton-on-Derwent is in the Thirsk and Malton Parliamentary constituency since its creation for the 2010 general election, and before this it was in the Ryedale constituency.

Norton was an ancient parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire.^[6] In 1832 the parish was included in the Malton parliamentary borough (constituency).^[7] The parliamentary borough of Malton was made a local board district in 1854, after which Norton was therefore governed as part of Malton.^[8]

This situation continued until 1889 when elected county councils were established under the Local Government Act 1888, which made each of Yorkshire's three ridings a separate administrative county. Local board districts which straddled county boundaries were placed in the county which had the majority of the population. The Malton district straddled the boundary between the North Riding and East Riding, with the boundary being the River Derwent. More of the district's population was north of the river at that time, and so Norton was transferred to the North Riding on 1 April 1889 when the new county councils came into being. A campaign to restore Norton to the East Riding led to the parish of Norton being removed from the Malton district, downgraded to a rural parish and transferred back to the East Riding on 29 September 1889.^[9]

In 1890 Norton was made its own local government district.^[10] Such districts were renamed urban districts in 1894.^[11][12]

Norton Urban District was abolished in 1974, with the area becoming part of the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire. A successor parish was created covering the former urban district. The successor parish created in 1974 was named "Norton-on-Derwent" whereas previously the official name had just been "Norton".^[13]

Norton, with Malton, has significance within the horse racing industry for the town's many stables.

There is a 27-hole golf course located off Welham Road, (Malton & Norton Golf Club) which covers a large part of the south-west end of the town. The club is the 'home club' of European Tour professional Simon Dyson.^[14]

Norton's schools are Norton Primary School, and Norton College secondary school. The secondary school has Academy and specialist Technology College status, a sixth form college and a playgroup.

Sport facilities include a swimming pool, a skate park, and Norton College sixth form gym that is open to the public.

Malton Bacon Factory in Norton is a major employer for both Norton, Malton and the local area.

Because of the town's close proximity to Malton, Norton has access to the A64, which runs from Leeds and York to Scarborough, and the A169 to Pickering and Whitby.

Both Malton bus station and Malton railway station are located in Norton.

Norton is home to Coastliner, a division of the Transdev bus group. Buses run from Leeds and York through Norton and Malton to Pickering, Whitby and Scarborough. There are also regular buses to Castle Howard and Hovingham, and other local bus routes.

Malton railway station is on the TransPennine Express route, with fast trains every hour running from Scarborough to York, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool. There are long term plans to re-open the rail link between Malton and Pickering, which would create a new service from Malton to Whitby. A preliminary feasibility study was published in July 2000, indicating that re-opening this section was technically possible.^[15]

The town is served by both BBC Yorkshire and BBC North East and Cumbria on BBC One & ITV Yorkshire and ITV Tyne Tees on ITV1. Television signals are received from either the Emley Moor or Bilsdale TV transmitters.^[16][17]

Local radio stations are BBC Radio York on 103.7 FM, Greatest Hits Radio York & North Yorkshire on 104.7 FM, and Coast & County Radio on 97.4 FM. ^[18]

Local newspaper is served by the Gazette and Herald.^[19]

Norton skatepark is situated on Norton Road and is made up of wooden ramps (Skatelite) on a tarmac base.^[20] Ryan Swain has been spearheading a global campaign called #rescuetheramp appealing to the towns councils to restore it.^[21] Swain also got world famous skateboarder Tony Hawk to support his campaign. The park has been newly refurbished and restored by King Ramps, with Swain assisting in the build. The Halfpipe ramp, which opened 21 years ago, is thought to be the country's last free-to-use one. It is the only one in the north and just one of 10 in the country which is free to use. A blue plaque has also been put in place at a newly repaired skate park in honor of a "much loved" BMX rider from the area named Tom Warrington.