Walton, Wakefield

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.[5]

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.[6] In 2019, eight dwellings were erected on the site.

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, St. Paul's Church on the Balk was dedicated to the Bishop of Wakefield, its construction was financed by the Simpson family, who also provided the land. The village is in the Church of England Parish of Sandal Magna.

In 1896, with the village population on the increase, larger premises were needed for the Methodist congregation and a bigger chapel was built. The design incorporated the original building and in 1910, extra Sunday school rooms were added.[7]

Walton Colliery was the site of an explosion on 22 April 1959 that killed five men.[8]

The pit closed on 3 December 1979, leading to the loss of 550 locally. This was planned to be one of the first en-bloc transfers of miners from an exhausted colliery to the new Selby Coalfield, but only around half of the workforce (excluding those that chose redundancy) moved to the Selby Coalfield. The remaining miners transferred to similar work at Ackton Hall, Allerton Bywater and Nostell Collieries immediately, and often later to Selby when those pits closed.[9]

Before closure, Walton Colliery had been saved 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.[10]

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.

• Listed buildings in Walton, Wakefield

• 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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Walton, Wakefield.

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