1855 - 1944 There are references to a bowling club in Malton as early as 1730 (this green is shown on a map of the time as been situated in Old Maltongate, opposite Orchard Fields). The club had its green taken away from it and bowling in Malton seems to have died out.
Later, a site on Castle Howard Road was used as a venue for quoits from 1855 and in 1882 a new pavilion was erected (at a cost of £25). In that year the first rinks of the new bowling green were laid, mainly thanks to the hard work of a Mr T. Stabler and a few friends who approached the quoits club with a view to combining the two clubs. Mr Stabler also appears to have financed the construction of the bowling green and other essential sundries required to get the club up and running.
The first recorded President/Chairman of the newly formed bowling club was the Hon H. W. Fitzwilliam, with J. W. Brown the first secretary and T. Stabler the first treasurer, all elected to office in 1882.
It would seem from a report in the "Malton Messenger" (predecessor to the "Gazette & Herald") that Malton's first match on the newly laId green at Castle Howard Road was held on Friday 13th July 1883 against Malton Cricket Club with Malton Bowls Club winnng the match 52-43.
To give the levels of membership at that time to those of present day some perspective, it is worth noting that in 1883 the bowls club had a membership of 112. Also of note is that at many event days the "Malton Rifles Band" played during the games and at the official dinners that followed such events. the matches must surely have been held in what could only be described as a carnival atmosphere.
The quoits & bowling club shared the same site for more than sixty years, with more and more bowling clubs coming into existence over that period, before the bowls section transferred to the green at East Mount over the winter of 1944 - 1945, a green which was originally used as a croquet lawn.
Watch the slide shows below to view images from the past.
1945 - Present Day After the second world war the club joined other leagues (the Hovingham League in 1966 is one example).
In the Ryedale & District Veterans league Malton had a period where they were "Division A" champions 8 times between 1982 and 1990.
From the records of Annual General meetings held over the years other articles of note are -
1965 - Green extended from pavilion end to drive side.
1977 - Affiliated to the Yorkshire Bowling Association.
1978 - Bar in the squash club building opened.
1990 - Ladies join Pickering Ladies Evening League.
2008 - Colin Smith & Derek Harper win the Eric Gill Open Pairs Competition.
2017 - Malton Veterans win the Sundella Cup Competition.
2018 - Malton win BataGas league & cup double.
2019 - Malton win BataGas league for 7th year in succession and complete the league & cup double for the 2nd year running. Malton also enter (and win) the Huby Triples League for the first time.
2021 - After the return to bowling following the Covid-19 pandemic and a reduced fixture list Malton once again won both the BataGas Triples League and the Huby Triples League. The Vet's also had a successful season, winning promotion back to the first division as Division 2 champions.
2022 - Malton complete a unique treble, winning all 3 league competitions
2023 - Malton win the BataGas Triples league for the 10th year in a row and the veterans win the Sundella Cup final.
2023 - Ian Strangeway wins The Vivian Booth Singles.
2024 - Ian Strangeway wins The Vivian Booth Singles for the second time. Malton Vets win the 'Ossie Ashcroft K.O.' cup