Welham is a well-known name in Norton. Howard Campion looks back at its history.
TWO roads lead south out of Norton but Welham Road does not reach a recognisable village whilst the other does go onto Langton.
The name Welham occurs in some Norton house and street names but there is not an actual place with that name.
Welham Hall is the most substantial item left of whatever Welham once was.
It is in its third ‘incarnation’ – the original building burnt down in 1882 and its successor was demolished in 1956/7. The third version was recently sold.
Welham Hall is reached by turning right near Whitewall cottages at the end of Welham Road – the road to the hall may have been an original route out of Norton, created to avoid Welham Hill.
The hall began as the ancestral home of the Bower family who originated in Bridlington during the 1500s with Robert Bower (1767-1835) inheriting the property in the late 1700s.
The family involved themselves in local ventures when they settled there.
One member, Major Robert Bower (1798-1869), was known as the ‘Lord of Norton’ and was important in creating the Bower Memorial School.
His son, Robert Hartley Bower (1830-1883), became Liberal MP for Malton, and his son, Robert Lister Bower, became chief constable of the North Riding.
The Bowers had left the area by 1890 after their property was destroyed by the fire in 1882.
They are not to be confused with the other equally prominent Bower family who were successful in motor trades, catering and food processing during recent and present times.
Both families contributed greatly to Malton and Norton.
Welham is mentioned in documents from Domesday onwards but there is no coherent picture of what exactly happened there.
A chapel existed as well as a fishery and a mill.
Physical remains of ordinary dwellings are doubtful and it is uncertain whether the village houses were to the east or west of Welham Hall.
There was a Wellom Grange but its whereabouts are unknown.
By 1851, the Census of that year shows two named properties, Welham Hall and Portobello, with other five each simply called Welham on the Census Return.
Of these seven houses, their residents totalled 21 family employs 21 support staff, 14 of whom were at Welham Hall.
- Howard Campion is a trustee at the Malton and Norton Heritage Centre
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