From Victorian villas to tales of skeletons, Welham Road in Norton has an interesting history. Howard Campion, a trustee at the Malton and Norton Heritage Centre, reports.
THE starting point of Welham Road has occasionally been affected by flooding. Mill Beck contributes to this situation: it runs an almost parallel course to the road and joins the river close by. Recent developments in water pumping technology have helped to improve the situation. House and street names in the area recall the presence of Mill Beck.
At its lower end, there are retail units which over time included motor trade, supermarkets, clothing retailers and manufacturers. Additionally, the left-hand side had been Norton’s entertainment centre with an early cinema (the Tin Tabernacle until 1923) as well as the Empire Ballroom above what eventually became the clothing factory. Further along on the same side there was also an extensive wood yard (Taylor’s) whose office building still exists.
Across the road, Brook Terrace itself leads up to the entrance of Park Road. There were once plans to upgrade park Road and build a link there to York Road industrial park to bypass Malton town centre.
The large house (now number 20) at the lower end of the terrace was once known as Brook Lea. It was built at right angles to the adjacent terrace at the same time as the cinema was being constructed round the corner.
Amongst the large stone-built houses in this area, the next one on the left and up the hill is Brookbank House. It had been residential but during the Second World War it became the Ministry of Food headquarters. Just prior to this, two pairs of semi-detached houses had been built at its side (of a totally different architecture style compared to their surrounds). The pair adjacent to Brookbank were commandeered by the government to amplify their office space. They were released to residential use in 1946. After becoming local council officers, Brookbank House is now split into flats.
On the opposite side of the road, The Avenue branches off. Once a private road, it is said that it was also gated. But evidence of there having been gates at its entrance are difficult to find.
Read other articles by Howard Campion:
- Looking back at the original road out of Norton to York
- Looking back at a popular route to the coast in Ryedale
- At look back at The Mount in Malton
Branching off from The Avenue is the Welham Trod, a dead straight pathway leading to Menethorpe. It offers a shortcut to the village and has been described as a ‘coach road’. It has also been said that it could be part of one of the original routes towards York from Norton. To fulfil its York journey, it would have had to cross the River Derwent somewhere but if it had achieved that there is a probability that it could have continued through (or near to) Stockton-on-Forest and thereby into York.
Back into Welham Road, there are more large Victorian villas followed by a lane leading down to Beck Mills. It has to be said that ‘foul deeds’ once took place in this area. In 1856 a male skeleton was discovered in one of the gardens of the last-mentioned houses. On examination it was found that it had been there for hundreds of years, but that death had not been by natural causes.
Welham Road continues for just under a mile with residential developments. A steep hill leads out of Norton towards Pocklington and Stamford Brudge and there are roads branching off on the right-hand side to the golf course and Welham Hall. Whitewall leads off on the left to Langton Road.
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