Walton is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the far north of

Cumbria Cumbria ( ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in North West England, bordering Scotland. The county and Cumbria County Council, its local government, came into existence in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972. Cumb ...

, England.Stay England. (2010
Walton
Retrieved 1 March 2012 It is located from

Carlisle Carlisle ( , ; from xcb, Caer Luel) is a city that lies within the Northern England, Northern English county of Cumbria, south of the Anglo-Scottish border, Scottish border at the confluence of the rivers River Eden, Cumbria, Eden, River C ...

Bulman, S. (2007
Bulmer's History & Directory of Cumberland, 1901
Retrieved 2 March 2012 and is about north of

Brampton Brampton ( or ) is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Brampton is a city in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipalit ...

,Visit Cumbria (2009
Walton
Retrieved 2 March 2012 on the north bank of the

River Irthing The River Irthing is a river in Cumbria, England and a major tributary of the River Eden. The name is recorded as Ard or Arden in early references. For the first 15 miles of its course it defines the border between Northumberland and Cumbria. ...

. Nearby villages include Newtown,

Banks A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets. Because ...

and

Lanercost Lanercost is a village in the northern part of Cumbria, England. The settlement is in the civil parish of Burtholme, in the City of Carlisle local government district. Lanercost is known for the presence of Lanercost Priory and its proximit ...

Description

Walton remains an unspoiled part of England and has a historic background as the course of

Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall ( la, Vallum Aelium), also known as the Roman Wall, Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Hadriani'' in Latin, is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. R ...

skirts the village to its south. In the past, Walton comprised two separate townships; Low Walton and High Walton.University of Portsmouth (2012
Walton AP/CP through time
Retrieved 20 March 2012 However Low Walton and High Walton have now combined to create a single area. William Ford mentions Walton in his writing when travelling around the Lake District. He writes "the village of Walton, on the line of the wall, as its name denominates..."University of Portsmouth (2010

Retrieved 21 April 2012 It is now believed that the name Walton comes from the settlement/farmstead of Wealas – native Celts described by the Anglo-Saxon speaking peoples. There is strong evidence that in many areas of England taken over by Germanic speaking settlers, the native British (Wealas) remained undisturbed, farming the same land they did when the Romans left.

Historical Maps

Many historical maps exist, which have been produced by various different

Cartographers Cartography (; from grc, χάρτης , "papyrus, sheet of paper, map"; and , "write") is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an im ...

which show Walton. The majority of these maps refer to Walton as "Waleton." These historical maps include; *Morden's Map – produced by

Robert Morden Robert Morden (c. 1650 – 1703) was an English bookseller, publisher, and mapmaker, globemaker and engraver. He was among the first successful commercial map makers. Between about 1675 and his death in 1703, he was based under the sign of the ...

in 1695. *Jansson's Map – made in 1646 by John Jansson, who was from the Netherlands. *Saxton's map – dates back to 1576 and was produced by

Christopher Saxton Christopher Saxton (c. 1540 – c. 1610) was an English cartographer who produced the first county maps of England and Wales. Life and family Saxton was probably born in Sowood, Ossett in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire i ...

and was engraved by

Augustine Ryther Augustine Ryther (died 1593) was an English engraver and translator. He engraved some of Christopher Saxton's maps of English counties. He also made scientific instruments. Works Ryther was associated with engraving maps of the counties of Englan ...

The Community

According to the Census, in 2001 278 people lived in Walton. 140 of these were male and 138 female.National Statistics
(2001) Retrieved 20 April 2012 The average age of the village's residents in 2001 was 43.61, with the majority of residents aged between 45–64 years old. As the village is surrounded by countryside, the main occupation for the majority of the community has always been focused on agriculture. For example, in 1881, agriculture was by far the largest industry, with 483 men worked in the agriculture sector.

The Village

Walton has a church and a village hall. The village hall was used as a school, in the ''National Gazetteer'' in 1868 it says that the village hall was also used for a

Sunday school A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

. However, in the present day, the village hall is no longer used as a school and its main purpose is to provide the village with a post office. The closest school to Walton is

William Howard School The William Howard School is a co-educational secondary academy school on ''Longtown Road'' ( A6071) in Brampton, Cumbria, England for pupils aged 11–18. History The school is named after Lord William Howard (1563–1640), who was the third so ...

in Brampton, 2 miles away from the parish. The village has no shops, the nearest shop for residents in Walton to use is in Brampton, which is 2 and a half miles from the village. The residents of Walton depend greatly on

for their health. The nearest doctor's surgery and dentist are both in Brampton. There used to be a pub named The Centurion in Walton, however it is now closed.Walton, Cumbria
Retrieved 7 April 2012 The area of Walton rapidly increased between 1851 and 1911. In 1851, the area was 9,642 acres, whereas in 1911, the area had expanded to 48,576 acres. The Centurion at Walton - geograph

St Mary's Church

The church in Walton is St Mary's Church. It is an active Anglican Parish Church. The church was built in 1869 on the site of a medieval church, it is believed to have cost at least £2000. The church was designed in a Gothic style by the architects

Paley and Austin Sharpe, Paley and Austin are the surnames of architects who practised in Lancaster, Lancashire, England, between 1835 and 1946, working either alone or in partnership. The full names of the principals in their practice, which went under vario ...

who were based in

Lancaster, Lancashire Lancaster (, ) is a city and the county town of Lancashire, England, standing on the River Lune. Its population of 52,234 compares with one of 138,375 in the wider City of Lancaster local government district. The House of Lancaster was a bran ...

. The church consists of a chancel, nave, north aisle, a tower and a porch. Within the church there are brass plaques set into the floor, commemorating the Johnson family, who occupied the Castlesteads mansion on the site of the

fort of

Camboglanna Camboglanna (with the modern name of Castlesteads) was a Roman fort. It was the twelfth fort on Hadrian's Wall counting from the east, between Banna (Birdoswald) to the east and Uxelodunum ( Stanwix) to the west. It was almost west of Birdoswa ...

. The brass plaques date from 1821 to 1865.

Castlesteads Mansion

Castlesteads Mansion is one of the most important buildings in Walton. It is listed as a

grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

building. It was built at the end of the 18th century by the Johnson family. It is believed that the estate was previously owned by the Dacre family who built "Walton House" using stones from the nearby

. The Johnson family purchased the estate in 1789 and replaced "Walton House" with a larger mansion, known as Castlesteads. It is located on the site of the Roman fort of

.Walton
www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk The mansion is south east of Walton and is surrounded by of woods, it also looks over the

. In 1839, William Ford described Castlesteads in his journal as being "an elegant and modern residence." At the time of this description Castlesteads was known as "Walton House" and was occupied by William Johnson. Ford also states that many "Roman remains" were dug up and are preserved at Castelesteads.

Hadrian's Wall

One of the main features which draws people to the village is its historical past. The parish stands on the route of

. The remains of the Roman wall can still be seen near Walton today, and it is thought that the village is situated at the site of one of the

milecastle A milecastle was a small fort (fortlet), a rectangular fortification built during the period of the Roman Empire. They were placed at intervals of approximately one Roman mile along several major frontiers, for example Hadrian's Wall in Great Bri ...

s of Hadrian's Wall,

Milecastle 56 Milecastle 56 (Walton) was a milecastle on Hadrian's Wall (). Description Milecastle 56 is thought to lie northeast of the former inn (the Centurion Inn) at Walton, Cumbria. The general course of Hadrian's Wall passes under the village of Walton ...

. It is said that many of the old cottages and buildings are made from the stones taken from the Roman wall. A National Trail named

Hadrian's Wall Path Hadrian's Wall Path is a long-distance footpath in the north of England, which became the 15th National Trail in 2003. It runs for , from Wallsend on the east coast of England to Bowness-on-Solway on the west coast. For most of its length it ...

was opened in May 2003 in Walton. However, the section of Hadrian's wall closest to Walton has been covered to protect it. The public can view an exposed section of the wall near the hamlet of

, about 5 miles east of Walton. In the 19th century, James Steele of Walton wrote a poem regarding Walton and the presence of

. James Steele was a blind poet, as well as a social reformer, teacher and a musician. An abstract of his poem includes; "Walton on the Roman Wall, fairest village of them all, rivers three around thee flow, clearest streams a man may know."

Transport

The closest airport to Walton is Carlisle Airport, which is situated 3.4 miles away from the village.Google Maps
(2012) Retrieved 20 April 2012, To travel to or from Walton via train, Carlisle Railway Station is the closest train station, which is 9.2 miles away from the parish. The nearest main bus station is situated 9.1 miles away in Carlisle also.

References

External links

Cumbria County History Trust: Walton, High and Low
(nb: provisional research only – see Talk page)
Walton in 'The Cumbria Directory'
* {{authority control Villages in Cumbria City of Carlisle Civil parishes in Cumbria