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