How Did This Happen?
The Malton and Norton Heritage Centre is the home of the Woodhams Stone Collection, a local history collection based in the small North Yorkshire market towns of Malton and Norton. The collection is the life’s work of Sid Woodhams and John Stone who have both generously donated these items to the town so they can be made accessible to the general public. Sid and John can tell you better than we can as to how this all started. Artefacts from local businesses, printed matter associated with businesses and social events in Malton, Norton and Old Malton with the focus on the period 1900 - 1960 - but you might find some items are older than that! So take a few moments to hear about it in their introductiry video 'in their own words'.
In Their Own Words
The Collection
The Woodhams Stone Collection consists of 1000s of items. There are so many that we cannot display them all at the same time. We are cataloguing them and have divided them into four 'collections' (Malton Postcards, Norton Postcards, Social History and Ephemera). We have photographed and annotated a selection from each collection so you can see them on this website. Click on Collections in the menu bar above.
Education
Where we have researched aspects of the Victorian and Edwardian history of Malton we have summarised this in one of our 'Education Sheets'. Wherever possible we quote our sources at the bottom of each Education Sheet. All information is correct to the best of our knowledge. You are free to use this information in your private research. If you want to use it for any other purpose please contact us. We are always pleased to hear from those who have knowledge about the history of Malton or Norton - so do please get in touch. Click on Education in the menu bar above.
Malton and Norton Heritage Trails
Look out for our 'We're on the Heritage Trail' window stickers! The twin towns of Malton and Norton host some wonderful buildings, many of which have stood for 150 years or more! Our heritage trails give insight into some of the stories behind these buildings and the businesses that have occupied them. Follow the trail on mobile devices as you walk around or do it from the comfort of your armchair! A BIG thank you to our launch sponsors Linton Pet Shop and W. Clifford Watts. Click on Heritage Trails in the menu bar above.
Support Us
If you would like to help us generally in preserving the Woodhams Stone Collection for future generations then you can become a Volunteer. We're also always looking for volunteers to help us catalogue the collection, design our exhibitions or help us at our social and fundraising events. If you have a few hours each week or month, pop in or get in touch via the details at the bottom of this page. We also welcome donations, which can be made via the GiftAid scheme - see the bottom of this page to donate by PayPal.
Research
Have you visited the Malton & Norton Heritage Centre 'Research Notebook?' Here you will find information that may help you research aspects of family and local history, particularly in the Victorian and Edwardian period. The information has at this stage got a Malton bias due to the fact that we have 'inherited' the information previously made available at www.maltonhistory.info (now retired).
You will find information transcribed from traditional sources, for example censuses and trade directories. You can also see advertisements of property sales and images of advertisements by local tradesmen taken from the local newspapers. We have also built our own indexes, for example births, marriages and deaths announced in the local newspapers ... and a lot more! Click on Research in the menu bar above.
Our News
We put our news here - the latest news at the top, so please scroll down to see older items.
Malton St. Clement’s Festival - We’ll Be There
Did you know that St. Clement is the patron saint of blacksmiths? This Saturday (25th) Malton is hosting an inaugural St. Clement’s Festival with varied activities throughout the day including crafts, music, light show, late night shopping and of course all supported by the town’s splendid range of eateries. We at Woodhams Stone will have a stand displaying a number of metallic objects with associations with the town. Do come and see us!
For timings etc click on the link below
Malton St Clement’s Festival | Sat 25th November 2023 — Visit Malton
New Sponsors For Our Heritage Trails
Today we welcome new sponsors for our Heritage Trails: Kemps Books and Kemps General Store (Malton trail) and Bright Steels (Norton trail). We would like to thank them both for their support. Watch this space as we will be adding more locations to the trails later this month.
Could You Take-up A Month’s Sponsorship Of One Of Our Heritage Trails?
We invite local businesses or individuals with strong local connections to sponsor one of our Heritage Trails. This is a great way of showing your empathy with our local heritage and of course you will be helping us maintain and house The Woodhams Stone Collection. One month’s sponsorship costs £60/£45 for the Malton/Norton trail respectively. We acknowledge all such support on our ‘landing page’ where we can incorporate logos and simple slogans etc. We will also announce your sponsorship on Malton and Norton Memories, the Facebook page which our volunteers administer. If you can help us in this way please get in touch via our contact details at the foot of each of our web pages.
Heritage Trails Re-launched
We are ‘up and running’ with our Heritage Trails, and, we’ve 'gone digital!’ See our interactive maps on our website and learn about the local heritage in terms of the history of our buildings and the businesses who have occupied them over the years. Look out for the 'We’re on the Heritage Trail’ window stickers!
We are making some changes to our Heritage Trails
We’re working hard to tweak our Heritage Trails to a new format and will soon announce further details of this. We also have some new locations planned! Watch this space!
Could You Volunteer For Us?
We are a publicly recognised organisation looking for a number of volunteers to work with us in this group. Our activities are concerned with the maintenance and development of a large collection of materials comprising historical artefacts, ephemera and images. These items, whose care is our priority, are continually increasing in number and they cover a wide spectrum of local interests. There are a range of different activities that need to be covered by volunteers and skills in any one of IT, documentation, fundraising, and administration would be welcomed. If needed, appropriate training can be given.
If you are interested please contact us using the email address or our postal address at the bottom of this page. We look forward to hearing from you.
Our New Website
We have applied a new template to our website, please bear with us while we address one or two ‘teething problems’!
You Won’t Believe What We Found Today!
Our cataloguing of the Woodhams Stone Collection continues. Lurking in a box was this wonderful Edwardian gentleman’s razor complete in its original case and with protective razor blade cases for those dangerous double edged blades!
Contact Us
Contact us by email
The Woodhams Stone Collection is a Registered Charity No: 1177312
Our address:
Malton & Norton Heritage Centre
2 Buckrose Court
Commercial Street
Norton YO17 9HN
The Malton and Norton Heritage Centre is currently closed to visitors. If you have a research related enquiry please use our email address.
Please Donate
The Woodhams Stone Collection is entirely run by volunteers and is housed in the Malton & Norton Heritage Centre. A donation however small would help towards our running costs and the purchase of archive quality materials required to store and preserve the Collection for future generations. If you should decide to donate via the PayPal button neither you nor Woodhams Stone Collection will be charged a fee for this donation.
At the end of the transaction you will be asked if you wish the payment to be made as part of the GiftAid scheme. If you are a UK taxpayer and able to do this it means that Woodhams Stone Collection can benefit by an additional 25% of your donation.
Malton & Norton Memories
This group is for those who are interested in life as it used to be in the twin towns of Malton and Norton. It is chiefly a showcase for photos and items from the Woodhams-Stone Collection but you are welcome to post any comments, memories or photos you may have to share.
