Walton, Wakefield
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Walton is a village and
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, known as 'Squire' Waterton. He was a naturalist and explorer who, in 1820, transformed the grounds of the Walton Hall estate the world's first nature reserve. The estate is also often referred to on Ordnance Survey maps, etc., as Walton Park and, less frequently, as Walton Hall Park. More recently, it has become widely known as Waterton Park.
Walton Hall is now Waterton Park Hotel. The park is now largely given over to a golf course, also named Waterton Park. There are public rights of way crossing the park.
Nearby, the site of the now demolished Walton Colliery, formerly known as Sharlston West
Name
The village was recorded in the
Schools
The first village school was established in the village in 1722 when two large
In 1790, money from the
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.
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, 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]
Colliery
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]
War memorial
At the centre of the village, at the
See also
References
- ^ Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 14 June 2018.
- ^ "The New Inn, Walton". newinnwalton.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Skiddle – Walton Sports and Social Club, Walton". skiddle.com. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Wakefield Council – Walton – Early History". wakefield.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Wakefield Council – Walton – Schools". wakefield.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Wakefield Council – Walton – Churches". wakefield.gov.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
- ^ "Report on the Causes of, and Circumstances attending, the Explosion which occurred at Walton Colliery, Yorkshire, on 22nd April, 1959". Durham Mining Museum. 11 September 1959. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
- ISBN 9780995570900.
- ISBN 0-340-38445-X.
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
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