Sitting north of Anfield and east of Bootle and Orrell Park, Walton is a largely residential area of Liverpool in Merseyside. Its roots stretch back well before the Norman Conquest, making it one of the older settled districts in the region, and its name likely comes from either the Old English Wald tun, meaning “Forest Town”, or from the Saxon word Wealas, used to describe the Celtic Britons who inhabited the land before them.
A Long History of Ownership and Change
Walton’s recorded history begins with the death of Edward the Confessor, when a man named Winestan held the local manor. After 1066, Roger of Poitou granted Walton to his sheriff, Godfrey. By 1200, King John had given the land to Richard de Meath, and it passed through several family lines before settling with the de Walton family for a considerable period. After Roger de Walton’s death in the 15th century, the estate was divided through marriage among the Crosse, Chorley, and Fazakerley families. It later moved through the Breres and Atherton families until Liverpool banker Thomas Leyland purchased it in 1804. Administratively, Walton on the Hill was briefly an urban district between 1894 and 1895 before joining Liverpool Borough Council. By 1921, the civil parish had a recorded population of 83,290, and on 1 April 1922, it was formally absorbed into Liverpool. One lasting piece of 19th-century social history is Hartley’s Village, built to house workers from the nearby Hartley’s Jam Factory.
Industry, Fire, and More Recent Events
Dunlop, the moulded plastics company, ran its UK head office and wellington boot manufacturing plant in Walton on what is now the Cavendish Retail Park, off Rice Lane. In September 1980, a serious fire at the plant forced the closure of Rice Lane and prompted residents to remain indoors due to hazardous air pollution. The damage was severe enough that the plant had to be demolished, with only part of the site continuing to operate until a full closure. A Chinese restaurant eventually opened in the former headquarters building in the late 1990s, and the last remaining plant on Cavendish Drive was cleared in 2004 to make way for housing. The area was also touched by the wider 2024 United Kingdom riots on 3 August 2024, when around 300 people gathered near County Road Mosque and both the Spellow Lane Library Hub and a local shop were set on fire. On a more unusual historical note, the Cavendish Retail Park site once held the Liverpool Inner City Zoological Park and Gardens, which opened in 1884 and was known for its large bronze Liver birds at the entrance and a chimpanzee named Pongo who lived in the Monkey House.