About Us

The Thornton name has been part of Easingwold and the surrounding countryside for generations, passed down from father to son, to grandson. Our story begins in 1960, when John’s grandparents, Colin and Mary Thornton, opened a small butcher’s shop in Easingwold Market Place. Alongside the shop, Granny ran the bakehouse, where she first began crafting the pork pies that would go on to become a much loved local tradition and remain so to this day.

In the mid-1970s, the business was handed down to their son Geoff, John’s dad. Over the next forty years, Geoff grew Thornton’s into a name known and trusted throughout the area, built on hard work, quality produce, and loyal customers. In 2017, he passed the reins to John, marking the next chapter in our family’s story.

John’s work in the family business began at a young age, helping out in the shop in and learning the craft from the ground up. He refined his skills at Leeds City College, where he was awarded Best Intermediate Butchery Student in 2007. He went on to gain further experience across the UK and abroad, working in leading butchery and meat businesses, as well as travelling to New Zealand, Australia, and Asia to broaden his knowledge of the trade.

With the original Easingwold premises in need of restoration, John made the decision to temporarily move the business to Husthwaite, taking on Andrew Thornton’s former butchery. For nearly two years, we continued to serve our customers there, while also developing new pastry products and growing both our wholesale and retail offerings.

Thornton’s absence was strongly felt in Easingwold, with many rumours circulating about what would happen to the old Butchers shop and whether Thornton’s would ever return to the market town… In August 2019, after extensive renovations, we proudly came back, opening the doors to our Bakehouse and Butchers in Cams Fold on Chapel Street, in what was once our old slaughterhouse.

As the business continued to grow, we reached an exciting new chapter in March 2026, when we opened the doors to a larger roadside shop on Chapel Street. This move marked a proud moment for us, allowing us to expand our offering, welcome more customers through our doors, and take everything we do to the next level, while staying true to the traditions and quality that have always defined Thornton’s.

While much has changed over the years, our principles remain the same. We are still a family-run business, still rooted in Yorkshire, and still committed to quality, provenance, and doing things the proper way.