Walton-on-Thames

Walton-on-Thames, known locally as Walton, is a market town on the south bank of the Thames in northwest Surrey, England. It is in the Borough of Elmbridge, about southwest of central London. Walton forms part of the Greater London Built-up Area, and is served by a wide range of transport links. According to the 2011 census, the town has a total population of 22,834. The town itself consists mostly of suburban streets, with a historic town centre of Celtic origin. It is one of the largest towns in Elmbridge, alongside Weybridge.

History

The name "Walton" is Anglo-Saxon in origin and is cognate with the common phonetic combination meaning "Briton settlement" (literally, "Welsh Town" – weal(as) tun). Before the Romans and the Saxons were present, a Celtic settlement was here. The most common Old English word for the Celtic inhabitants was the "Wealas", originally meaning "foreigners" or "strangers". William Camden identified Cowey Stakes or Sale, Walton as the place where Julius Caesar forded the River Thames on his second invasion of Britain. A fisherman removed several wooden stakes about thigh-width and high that were very black and hard enough to turn an axe, and shod with iron. He sold these to John Montagu, 5th Earl of Sandwich, who used to come to the neighbouring Shepperton bank to fish, for half a guinea apiece.Allen, Thomas Elmbridge Museum requires definitive evidence of these stakes, the evidence at present limited to pre 20th-century secondary sources that conflict as to detail.

Walton lay within the Anglo-Saxon district of Elmbridge hundred, in the shire (later county) of Surrey.

Walton appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as "Waletona". The settlement was held jointly as overlords in the feudal system by Edward de Sarisber (Salisbury) and Richard de Tonbrige. Its Domesday assets were: 6 hides; 1 church (St. Mary's), 2 mills worth £1 5s 0d, 1 fishery worth 5s, 14 ploughs, of meadow, supporting 50 hogs. It rendered £28.

The nucleus of the village is in the north, while later development took place in the southern manors on all sides of the railway station. About half of the land was south of the South Western Main Line. This included, from west to east, Walton Heath, Burwood manor and Hersham manor; these together became the civil parish of Hersham in the 19th century.Parish of Hersham Accessed 4 June 2015 On a smaller scale, the majority of Oatlands village, to the south-west, formed part of the town. St. Mary's Parish Church has some Saxon material and an architectural structure of the 12th century, with later additions. The square flint tower, supported by a 19th-century brick buttress, has a working ring of eight bells, the oldest bearing the date 1606. In the north aisle is a large monument (1755) by the French rococo sculptor and bust maker Roubiliac to Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, commander-in-chief in Ireland, who lived at the former manor and house of Ashley Park in the parish; this was demolished and its many acres subdivided in 1920.St Mary's Church, Grade I listing entry, Also in the north aisle is a brass to John Selwyn (1587), keeper of Oatlands Park, with figures of himself, his wife and eleven children. An unusual relic kept in the church is a copy of a scold's bridle presented to the parish in the 17th century, which is mentioned in Jerome K. Jerome's classic Three Men in a Boat. The royal palace of Oatlands, built by Henry VIII in 1538, was a mile upstream to the west.

John Bradshaw lived in the Tudor manor house in the 17th century. He presided at Charles I's trial. Under the (39 & 40 Geo. 3. c. lxxxvi) there were enclosed (privatised from common land or manorial land subjected to agrarian rights of others) of the Walton manors, which included holdings at Chertsey and of arable common fields.

The world's first documented game of baseball was played in 1749 in Ashley Park, on the estate belonging to the wife of Charles Sackville, Earl of Middlesex. The Earl played in the match along with his friend, Frederick, Prince of Wales."Baseball: Blue plaque in Surrey marks world's first game", "BBC News".

A School Board was formed in 1878. A previously existing school was enlarged in 1881. The infant school was built in 1884. The Methodist Church, with a spire taller than the tower of the Anglican Church, was built in 1887. The Baptist Church was built in 1901.

A Public Hall, in High Street, was built in 1879 by Mrs Sassoon, who resided at Ashley Park House. This is still in existence and is visible behind the present shopfront. Ashley Park Golf Club was laid out in the 1890s, but ceased to exist prior to 1918."Ashley Park Golf Club" , "Golf's Missing Links".

During World War I, troops from New Zealand were hospitalised in the No. 2 New Zealand General Hospital at Mount Felix House, which is now demolished except for its stable block and clock tower. They are remembered by a memorial in the cemetery, where those who died at Mount Felix are buried, and one in St Mary's Church where an annual service of remembrance is held. They are also remembered in the street name New Zealand Avenue, the Wellington Pub (formerly The Kiwi), and a small memorial in the Homebase car park.

Walton upon Thames Urban District merged with Weybridge Urban District to form Walton and Weybridge Urban District in 1933.

In World War II, owing largely to the proximity of important aircraft factories at nearby Brooklands, the town was bombed on various occasions by the Luftwaffe. On 27 September 1940, fighter pilot F/Sgt. Charles Sydney, who was based with 92 Squadron at RAF Biggin Hill, died when his Spitfire (R6767) crashed in Station Avenue. He was buried in Orpington and was commemorated by a memorial plaque adjacent to the former Birds Eye HQ at Walton Court on Station Avenue, close to the crash site although this has recently disappeared with current major redevelopment of the Birds Eye site with new apartments. Hopefully the memorial will be re-erected and re-dedicated later.

Hersham and Walton Motors (HWM) constructed its own racing car in the early 1950s. Stirling Moss competed in his first Formula One Grand Prix in an HWM. HWM was the world's first Aston Martin dealership that diversified into Alfa Romeo in 2009.

Walton Town Hall, which was commissioned to serve as the offices of Weybridge Urban District Council, was designed by Sir John Brown Henson and Partners in the modernist style, featured a curved structure built from concrete with stone cladding and was completed in 1966. It became surplus to requirements and was subsequently demolished after Walton on Thames was absorbed into the Borough of Elmbridge in 1974.

At the 1951 census (one of the last before the abolition of the parish), Walton upon Thames had a population of 30,029.

The name of the town has resurfaced in the media in March 2023 in relation to Levi Bellfield and his bid to get married while in prison.

Demography and housing + 2011 Census HomesOutput area Detached Semi-detachedTerracedFlats andapartmentsCaravans/temporary/mobile homesSharedbetweenhouseholdsKey Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density 2011 United Kingdom census Office for National Statistics Retrieved 21 November 2013Walton Ambleside241 840 244 237 1 0Walton Central825 545 429 1,257 0 7Walton North323 841 884 736 3 0Walton South924 585 399 735 0 0 The accommodation included 28% detached houses, and 22.6% apartments.

+ 2011 Census Key StatisticsOutput area Population Households % Owned outright % Owned with a loanhectaresWalton Ambleside4,291 1,563 26 44 145Walton Central6,790 3,063 33 34 190Walton North6,511 2,787 21 41 455Walton South6,545 2,643 37 41 176 The proportion of households in the town who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

Demographic change For information on the 1851–1901 change in population see Transport below. In 2001 and after boundary changes the population was just over 1,500 lower at 22,834. According to the 2001 census, the population of central Walton was 5,862, with Elmbridge's population being 121,936. Central Walton had a male population of 2,791 against Elmbridge's male population of 58,867, and the female population of central Walton was 3,071 against Elmbridge's 63,069.

Commerce The GSS (ONS specifically) identifies a Built-up Area of its name generally cited for other articles of this work as to their populations e.g. Guildford, Salisbury, which has a population of 66,566 and extends to Hersham, Sunbury-on-Thames and Shepperton.

The Heart of Walton is the name given to the re-development of Walton town centre alongside the relatively short High Street. This main area of the town centre was built in the 1960s and had become run down owing to poor maintenance. The redevelopment includes a shopping mall and 279 one- and two-bedroom apartments, many with views over the private gardens, avenues and public section of Ashley Park. The main part of the centre, a covered walkway has several brand retailers. The public library was moved here in June 2008.

Further redevelopment has upgraded or built new shops, widening the scope high-end fashion, jewellery, bakery and supermarkets. Restaurants along the New Zealand Avenue side of The Heart include three independents. Further restaurants exist along the High Street axis and at the far north-eastern and southern parades within the town boundaries. Around the periphery automotive, construction and landscaping businesses have a large presence and the Walton station area has a number of headquarters sized office buildings. As well as this, the long-awaited redevelopment of Walton bridge finished in 2013.

Transport

Walton-on-Thames is served by Walton-on-Thames railway station, which provides 4 trains per hour to London Waterloo, consisting of 2 semi-fast services and 2 stopping services, with the semi-fast services taking only 25 minutes to reach the terminus. This has proven pivotal to the demographics and to the nature and degree of the town's development – in 1851 its population was 4,106 which more than quadrupled in the 60 years to 1911, when its population reached 19,142.visionofbritain.org.uk: Walton Registration Sub-District 1801–1911 Retrieved 27 August 2013. Note the other possible comparative unit at the time, the civil parish is not used, as it included West Molesey.

Walton has regular bus services supported by Surrey County Council to nearby towns Weybridge, Shepperton, Hersham, Molesey and Kingston-upon-Thames. A pleasure boat service runs regularly on a stretch of the river that includes a loop around Desborough Island.

Local taxis: there is taxi rank at the Walton-on-Thames Station for approximately 12 taxi cars, which is served between 6:30am and 1:00am.

Walton Bridge

Six versions of Walton Bridge have crossed the Thames, each westward, to Shepperton. Before the first bridge there was a ferry which went back at least to the early 17th century.

The first bridge, constructed between 1748 and 1750, was a timber structure that stood until 1783. Canaletto painted a picture of this bridge in 1754. The painting, which shows the rococo-style of this bridge, may be seen in the Dulwich Picture Gallery.

The second bridge was constructed in 1788 and stood until 1859. Constructed of brick and stone, it lasted much longer than its predecessor. This bridge was painted by J. M. W. Turner in 1805 following his sketching tour of the River Thames and River Wey.

After the second bridge collapsed a ferry crossing resumed until the construction of the third bridge in 1864. This was a girder bridge on stone piers. At the same time, a brick viaduct was constructed to span the flood plain to the south of the river. The viaduct is still standing.