Malton is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in North Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the town is the location of the offices of Ryedale District Council and has a population of around 13,000 people, measured for both the civil parish and the electoral ward at the 2011 Census as 4,888. The town is located to the north of the River Derwent which forms the historic boundary between the North and East Ridings of Yorkshire. Facing Malton on the other side of the Derwent is Norton. The Karro Food Group (formerly known as Malton Bacon Factory), Malton bus station and Malton railway station are located in Norton-on-Derwent. Malton is the local area's commercial and retail centre. In the town centre there are small traditional independent shops and high street names. The market place has recently become a meeting area with a number of coffee bars and cafés opening all day to complement the public houses. Malton has been described as "the food capital of Yorkshire", and was voted one of the best places to live in Britain by The Sunday Times in both the 2017 and 2018 lists. Malton was named the dog-friendliest town in the UK at the annual Dog Friendly Awards, in association with the Kennel Club in 2018/19. In 2020 Malton was named as one of the most dog-friendly staycation spots in the UK and the best in Yorkshire. History Roman The earliest established building at Malton comes from the late first century AD. The Roman auxiliary fort of Derventio was established under the governor Agricola (40-93) around the same time as Eboracum. The site was established on the north bank of the River Derwent. A large civilian settlement grew up alongside the fort, on the south bank of the river. A single Roman cavalry unit, the Ala Gallorum Picentiana is recorded from the site. The site remained occupied (and subject to continued development) throughout the four centuries of Roman occupation in Britain, particularly in the Trajanic, Severan, Constantian and Theodosian periods and is notable for the manufacture of jet jewellery at the site as well as a single unique inscription identifying a goldsmith shop. Medieval There was some form of settlement in New Malton by 1138 and old Malton was probably also founded in the 1100s; a Gilbertine monastery was built between 1147 and 1154 in Old Malton, while