Walton Chronology by Marget Vernon

620	A Norseman by the name of Eadwine invaded Deira, now the County of West Yorkshire. He marched into the kingdom of Elmet, and occupied Weala-tun (Walton). Some of the occupiers settled. Some local place-names have interesting derivations: HAW PARK WOOD and HARE PARK These are now grounds outside the walled Walton Park. ‘Hay’ is an old word meaning a hunting ground or paled park. This word appears on tombstones in Sandal Church but the word ‘Hay’ has long been corrupted to Haw and Hare. BARCH is a field name, probably connected with the early Lords of Walton, the de Burghs. BERGH QUARRY Probably the same derivation as Barch. This is the quarry where stone was obtained to build Walton Hall.
1334	Thomas de Burgh received a licence to fortify his mansion at Walton, and to surround it with a stone wall built with mortar and to crenellate it. He died shortly after receiving this licence, and before the work had proceeded very far.
1435	Constance Assenhull from Walton married Richard Waterton from Lincolnshire.
1435	A hall was built at Walton for this couple. It was a crenellated building of considerable size. There was an oak panelled hall of length 90'. The present gateway is all that remains now.
1540	Sir Robert Waterton (a knight) owned the three hamlets which from ancient times had formed the village. They were known as Middle Walton, Nether Walton and Upper Walton.
17th Century	Overtown Grange Farm and Rose Farm were both built. There must also have been a priory at Walton at some time, probably during Medieval times. The house at the North West corner of the square is thought to have been part of the original malt kiln belonging to the priory.
1643	Parliament ordered Lords and Landowners to pay towards the expense of war.
1644	Parliamentary troops enforcing this demand marched on Walton Hall, then the home of Anne and Robert Waterton. While they waited, one soldier went to Walton village to fetch a keg of beer. When he returned, an occupant of the Hall fired a cannon ball at him and wounded his thigh.
1722	A school and school house were being used in buildings on Shay Lane, just west of Walton House.
1767	The original Walton Hall was demolished. Thomas Waterton ordered a large Georgian mansion to be built in its place. So it was built on an island in a lake of 30 acres. Under the porch is a life-sized otter with a pike in its mouth, the crest of the Watertons. On the front of the house is a shield with the Waterton coat of arms. It has six stripes with three crescent moons. The motto is "Better friendly strangers than estranged kin.". The original drawbridge approach to the house has now been replaced with an iron footbridge. The park extends 260 acres and is surrounded by an 8' high wall. This extends the three miles round the Park and cost £10,000. There is one gap of 16’ adjoining the Barnsley Canal, for transport access.
1782	Charles (‘Squire’) Waterton was born, later to become a famous naturalist.
1790	Walton Lake was dredged, during which operation the cannon ball from the 1644 siege was found and ‘Preserved’ at the gateway.
1799	The Barnsley Canal was opened from Barnsley to Wakefield, passing through Walton. There were 12 locks on the Walton section, with a further three at Heath. Cottages were built at Stoney Heaps, Walton, as temporary accommodation for the canal navvies.
1799	The Commons and Wastes Inclosures Act defined and recorded areas such as Walton Common, Walton Green, Greenside and Uppertown Green.
1830	Local railways began to be built. The first station was at Oakenshaw, though business was soon transferred to Walton. Many of the railway navvies lived in huts of sods on Shay Lane.
1830	Edmund Waterton was born; the ‘27th Lord of Walton’. He later became a collector of antiquities. His collection of historical rings is now in the Kensington Museum. He was fond of a fine life and later became bankrupt.
1832	Soap works were established by Hodgson and Simpson.
1840	North Midland Railway opened.
1842	Simpson (the owner of Walton House) employed three men and two boys in the soap works.
1844	The railway became part of the New Midland System.
1846	Charles Waterton and Sir William Pilkington both complained of fumes from the salt-cake furnace at the soap works affecting their estates (Walton and Chevet respectively). Also Lumb and Matthewman (local farmers) complained that local drinking water was unfit for cattle due to polluted drains across their lands.
1846-9	After continuing arguments with the above it was decided to move the premises of the soap works to Thornes (Wakefield).
1850	The buildings in Soap House Yard were sold.
1856	The Methodist Chapel was built, with considerable encouragement from Simpson.
1857	Miss Pilkington founded a school in connection with the National School Society. It was in a stone building at the lower end of Blind Lane (now School Lane).
1865	26th May 'Squire' Waterton fell over a log of wood at the head of the Lake and this resulted in fractured ribs and an injured liver. He died the following day. His body was interred on 3rd June, near the spot where the accident happened. A stone cross marks the place where he fell.
1870’s	Three local coal Companies arose: Walton Coal Company Chevet Company Hare Park Coal Company These fell into liquidation towards 1880, never having worked coal.
1871	Miss Pilkington established a laundry next to the school "to prepare girls for service".
1876	Walton Hall and Park was sold to Edward Simpson for £114,000. He also owned several cottages and four principal residences at that time: Walton Hall, Walton House, Grove House, Thornhill House, and the site of a fifth, Walton Grange.
During the 19th Century five Schools were used:
1	Between the War Memorial and the Chapel a building of two rooms was used. Billy Armitage taught the boys and his wife taught the girls.
2	1837 A school was carried on by Mr Atha in detached buildings on The Balk. The ground floor was a school and the upper room a Methodist Chapel.
3	A school between Walton House and Walton Grange was kept by Tommy Lumb, a cripple who lived at Overtown Farm and came to school on a donkey cart.
4	A school was kept by Jacky Sharpe where Walton Grange outbuildings are now.
5	When the Midland Railway was being constructed, the Company had offices in buildings near Grove House. These are also believed to have later housed a school.
During the 19th Century six ‘Pubs’ were frequented:
1	The New Inn
2	Cross Keys This was marked on 1849-1851 OS Map at the corner of Shay Lane and Blind Lane (School Lane).
3	Star This was on Blind Lane on the site of the present Junior School.
4	Rose and Crown This was 40 yards down Milnthorpe Lane.
5	Boot and Shoe This had a temporary licence during the construction of the railway. It was a half-timbered house, formerly known as Walton Old Hall.
6	There was a beer house on Greenside which was frequented a lot by canal navvies. The house fell into disrepute by the locals, however, and it became rowdy.
1880	A local murder was committed. Tom and Hannah Beckett lived in a two-roomed house in Soap House Yard. On his return from work as a farm hand Tom found his wife about to go out with her lover, Harry Ogden from Newmillerdam. After an argument he cut her throat with a razor and then his own. They were found later by the lodger, Mr Marshall. Tom Beckett later recovered in Clayton Hospital, but his wife was reported dead.
1892	A water supply was laid to the village, and the wells fell into disuse.
1896	The Methodist Chapel was enlarged.
1903	Plans were put forward to close Miss Pilkington’s laundry.
1906	A decision was made to build a new school.
1910	Methodist Sunday School opened.
1911	New school opened.
1923	Railway became part of LMS System.
1940	Walton Hall started to be used as a Maternity Hospital.
1947	Last commercial traffic on the canal.
1953	Abandonment warrant for the Barnsley Canal.
1954	Bus shelters installed around the village.
1962	Sports Pavilion opened on Shay Lane.
1964	Miners Welfare Club officially opened.
1966	Church Hall was bought for use as a Village Hall. The Library Committee later bought the Village Institute.
1967	Walton Hall used for geriatric patients.
1967	St Paul’s Church completed at a cost of £12,000. It replaced a ‘tin’ structure on The Balk which had been used for the previous 60 years.
1969	A plan was put forward by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to use Walton Hall for a Natural History Museum. It was also hoped to lease part of the canal for conservation in a nature trail for children in conjunction with the project.
1974	Applications by Private Enterprise (Walton Park Development Company) to convert the Hall, Park and Lake into a Leisure Centre and Outdoor Pursuits Centre. This was rejected because it was thought that Walton residents would not benefit from a club which would be exclusive and expensive to join. Walton Action Group pointed out that the additional weight of traffic on inadequate roads would harm trees and wildlife, destroy farmland and lead to devalued property.
1977	Walton Infant School opened.

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78 Oakenshaw Lane Walton	March 1978
My thanks go to: John Goodchild, Wakefield District Archives, and The Staff at Balne Lane Library, Wakefield.
Bibliography: Wakefield Express 1950-1977 Wakefield (Walker) Recollections of Mr Spurr Yorkshire Archeological Journal P.120 (de Burgh history) OS Map 1850 Paper on Hodgson and Simpson by John Goodchild
620-1540 1600s 1700s 1800s 1900s