Walton - A Little Bit of School History.

In 1722, Charles Waterton, the grandfather of Squire Charles Waterton, granted a lease for 199 years, at a pepper-corn rent, of two cottages in the village to be used as a school and dwelling for a schoolmaster, provided that two poor children from the village were taught free of charge. The other scholars would be taught at their parents' expense. These cottages were in Shay Lane to the west of Walton House (now called Walton Manor). The houses were rebuilt in 1824 at the expense of the inhabitants of Walton.

In 1790, Catherine Nevile, from Chevet, bequeathed £140 to be used for the establishment of a free school in Walton or neighbouring Chevet. In addition to providing the salary of the schoolmaster, four poor boys and four poor girls of Walton, and two poor boys and two poor girls of Chevet, were to be instructed in the English language. This endowment was bestowed upon the existing school.

The schoolmaster between 1821 and 1858 was recorded as being Thomas Lumb, who lived with his brother at Overtown Grange Farm.

The deed stated that the money had been laid out on mortgage; in fact, there being no schoolmaster in Walton for a long period of time, one of the trustees, Mr Elias Wright, lent the money to the Aire and Calder Navigation Company, on security of their promissory note. In 1818, Mr David Scholefield (a school trustee) was persuaded by Thomas Wood (the newphew of Elias Wright) to call in the money and lend it to him. Wood promised to pay a higher rate of interest. Wood soon became bankrupt and the money was lost.

In 1827, Scholefield, agreed that a security should be taken from him in the sum of £140 and interest. Scholefield gave the security bond for £140 to his co-trustee, William Brown, and paid the interest to the schoolmaster in Walton. In the General Digest of 1873 - 1875, Charities of This Parish, it is stated that the money was never recovered as Scholefield became bankrupt and never carried out his agreement.

There are records of other schools in the village, for further details see A History of Walton, Peter Wright, 1985).

In 1857, Miss Mary Pilkington of Chevet Hall opened a new National School on the site of the present day Junior School. In 1871, she founded her Training, Laundry and Cooking School, across the road in the two cottages, built in 1867 for this purpose, that are now known as Manor House and Bridge House. Following the establishment of the National School, the earlier schools declined and closed. Mary Pilkington was a relative of Catherine Nevile.

For a while, the Shay Lane school was occupied by the schoolmaster, paying 6d (six 'old' pence, equivalent to 2.5 'new' pence) per annum to Charles Waterton (the Squire), the owner. However, the building became a ruin and it was abandoned. There being no trustees to claim an interest in the old school, Squire Waterton demolished the building in 1862 and reclaimed the site.

Miss Pilkington's school eventually gave way to the national school in School Lane.

Principal source of the above: Walton and its History, a selection of documents, maps and illustrations, 1985, Wakefield District Library

Click on the images below to enlarge.
The former Junior School, Walton. Photographed13th September 2007. Walton Juniors, built 1910, officially opened 1911. The school closed in 2007 and was relocated to The Grove to become, along with the infants' school, part of the primary school. The old school sold at auction in Leeds in 2007 for a hammer price of £625,000.	School's out forever! Walton Junior School - sold, boarded up and waiting for the new development to begin.
View of the old junior school towards Victoria Terrace, School Lane. [18 Nov 2006]	Planning Application Details Application Ref. 09/00140/FUL, Date received 27/01/2009, Date refused 06/04/2009, address Former Walton School School Lane Walton Wakefield West Yorkshire WF2 6PA,Propsal Residential development (6no town houses, 8 no apartments) with associated access and parking. The developer appealed aginst the refusal to grant planning permission. The developer's appeal against the refusal to grant planning permission was dismissed by the Planning Inspectorate on 3rd March 2010 (Appeal Ref: APP/X4725/A/09/2115916, Former Walton School, School Lane, Walton, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF2 6PA). The Inspector said, "I consider that the proposals would be harmful to the character and appearance of the area". A new planning application (10/01284/FUL) was submitted by the developer on 30th June 2010. The application was rejected by the Wakefield Planning Committee on 23rd September 2010. The developer appealed against this rejection and, eventually, the planning application was approved on 31st March 2011. Visit the Parish Council site for information about major planning proposals in the village or search Wakefield MDC.
There were some objections to the original plan for redevelopment. The school was vandalised and decayed rapidly before it was demolished ready for redevelopment. However, there was local opposition and the District Council refused the planning application; the developer appealed against the refusal - see opposite.