Walton, Wakefield

Not to be confused with Walton, Wetherby.

Walton
Walton Hall, Walton
Population	3,034 (Ward. Hatton, Stretton and Walton. 2011)
OS grid reference	SE357171
Civil parish	Walton
Metropolitan borough	City of Wakefield
Metropolitan county	West Yorkshire
Region	Yorkshire and the Humber
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WAKEFIELD
Postcode district	WF2
Police	West Yorkshire
Fire	West Yorkshire
Ambulance	Yorkshire
UK Parliament	Hemsworth

Walton is a village and civil parish in the county of West Yorkshire, England, 3.5 miles south-east of Wakefield. It has a population of 3,377. By the time of the 2011 Census the village had been incorporated in the City of Wakefield ward called Hatton, Stretton and Walton. The population of this ward at the Census was 3,084.

Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the village lies on the Barnsley Canal and is home to Walton Hall, once the residence of Charles Waterton, the naturalist and explorer who, in 1820, transformed the grounds of the Walton Hall estate into England's first nature reserve. Nearby, the site of the now demolished Sharlston West colliery, has been transformed into another nature reserve. Large lakes were constructed when the reserve was landscaped in the mid-1990s and the excavated earth was then used to cover the colliery's vast spoil heaps. The village also contains a small park, a tennis club, football and rugby pitches, a newly renovated pub and a sports and social club.

Walton was the site of the small colliery, originally named Sharlston West and later renamed Walton. It was the site of an explosion on 22 April 1959 that killed five men. The pit closed in the early 1980s, having been saved from closure several times by industrial action. In 1977 it was reported to require investment of £5 million to open new faces, which was rejected by the Coal Board, but Arthur Scargill refused to accept the closure of a pit where the coal was not yet exhausted.

Name

The village was recorded in the Domesday Book (c. 1086) as Waleton, but from c. 650 – 830, it was known as Weala-tun, a name which means 'Welshman's Village'. This suggests a settlement of native British people was established well before the Saxons arrived during the 7th century. During the Norman dynasty, the village was recorded as Waton, but since the Middle Ages (c. 1154) to the present day, the village has held its current name of Walton.

Schools

The first village school was established in the village in 1722 when two large cottages on Shay Lane were donated by Charles Waterton (grandfather of the aforementioned Squire Charles Waterton). One of the two cottages was a small schoolroom and the other was let to the newly appointed schoolmaster free of charge, providing the two poor children of the village were educated for free.

In 1790, money from the will of wealthy woman called Catherine Neville of Chevet, Wakefield was donated. These funds were used to establish a new, free school in Walton which operated alongside a few other smaller schools in the area.

In 1857 Miss. Mary Pilkington of Chevet Hall, Sandal, financed the construction of a new school, a schoolmasters house and a laundry school on School Lane. This school continued its existence until 1911, gradually taking on more pupils from the other village schools until they were deemed redundant and closed. It was closed and demolished in 1911, but replaced shortly after by another new school building for children aged 3 to 11. As the village population grew, the new school was soon over capacity and a solution was needed. To combat this problem, a new infant school was built on the Grove, taking on all the pupils aged 3 to 8, with the pupils aged 8 to 11 remaining at the original building.

The original school closed in 2007 and the infant school was demolished when a new replacement was constructed in its place. It caters to the pupils of both the old infant school and the original school, as well as containing the new village library. The original 1911 school was finally demolished in 2009 after widespread opposition, to make way for a controversial block of flats, it is yet to be granted planning permission.

Churches

Since the 19th century, there have been two places of worship for the village community. In the 1800s, the Methodist community were worshipping in a building on the Balk and in 1856 they built an additional small chapel on Shay Lane. When opened, the larger church on the Balk was dedicated to the Bishop of Wakefield, its construction was financed by the Simpson family, who also provided the land.

In 1896, with the village population on the increase, larger premises were needed and a bigger chapel was built. The design incorporated the original building and in 1910, extra Sunday school rooms were added.

War memorial

At the centre of the village, at the junction of School Lane (B6378) and Shay Lane, a war memorial lists the names of local men who died serving in the First and Second World Wars.

Folklore

In the past, Walton was famous for its 'rag well', which was said to cure eye ailments if the afflicted tied strips of cloth to a tree above the well.

Further reading

• Wright, Peter. History of Walton. Countryside Publications, 1986. ISBN 0861571916
• Bell, Richard. Waterton's Park. Willow Island Editions, 1998. ISBN 1902467027
• Blackburn, Julia. Charles Waterton, 1782–1865 Traveller and Conservationist. Century Publications, 1991. ISBN 0712647465
• Phelps, G. Squire Waterton. EP Publishing, 1976. ISBN 0715811967
• Moore, N. Charles Waterton of Walton Hall, 1762–1865. Wakefield Historical Publications, 1981. ISBN 0901869112

External links

• Wakefield Council, the local authority
• Walton Primary Academy Website
• Parish Council website
• Overtown Miscellany, independent local website