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 The name Walton is Anglo-Saxon in origin and is believed to mean "farm of the Britons" or to have meant 'Saxon settlement'. Even before the Romans and the Saxons were present, there was a Celtic settlement here. The Anglo-Saxon word for the Celtic inhabitants who lived here before them is "Wealas".
Walton-on-Thames was also identified by William Camden as the place where Caesar forded the Thames on his second invasion of Britain.
In the Doomsday survey "waletona" was noted as having a church, two mills and a fishery.
Modern Walton-on-Thames in the North-West of Surrey is a thriving town with a large population.
St. Mary's Parish Church.
Standing on the highest point of town, St. Mary's Parish dates back to before the Domesday Book (1086 AD). The church is of saxon origin, with parts dating back to the 12th and 15th centuries. The square flint tower, supported by a 19th century brick buttress, contains a peal of 6 bells, the oldest bearing the date 1606.
The church has many monuments, including one to Field Marshall Viscount Shannon (who died in 1740), and is one of the best works by Francois Roubiliac. There is also a brass dedicated to John Selwyn, once a keeper of the Royal Park at Oatlands, and a black marble slab commemorating the work of William Lilly, a famous astrologer of his time, who died in 1681. The church also houses a late 17th century organ case, and in the graveyard lies Edward 'Lumpy' Stevens (d.1821), a well known cricketer whose bowling led to the introduction of the third stump.
The Old Manor House
The Old Manor House In Manor Road, Walton-on-Thames is a timber framed building with tow projecting wings at each end. It is made up of two levels. The house was built in the 14th Century and was at one time the Manor House of Walton Leigh. Local tradition says that John Bradshaw once lived in the house, Bradshaw was the President of the Court that sentenced Charles I to his death.
During the 19th Century, the Old Manor house fell upon hard times and at one point had several families living there, at its most crowded a total of six families of (thirty-five people lived there).
The Manor house is still in Manor Road and is an excellent example of a well preserved domestic building of its period.
Gone but not forgotten...
Ashley House
Ashley House was the most important great house close to the village of Walton-on-Thames, and stood for over 300 years. Built between 1602-1605 for Lady Berkeley, wife of the 7th Lord Berkeley, the Jacobean house cost £3119.4s.7½d. The house passed through many hands over the years, and was once owned by Viscount Shannon, whose memorial still stands in St. Mary's Parish.
The size of the estate, once Walton Common was added, rose to 440 acres, and the main drive to the house originally ran into the middle of Walton high street, roughly opposite to where WHSmith is now.
Unfortunately, the house was demolished in 1930, and its estate was used to build houses on in the 20's and 30's.
Mount Felix
The estate known as Mount Felix dates from around 1840 and lays between the River Thames and the approach to Walton bridge. The estate was begun by Samuel Dicker, a wealthy merchant and the builder of the first Walton bridge. Dicker purchased several pieces of land and at its peak the estate comprised of around fifty acres. The house of the estate was not built for Samuel Dicker, it was already there when he purchased the land.
Dates in the estates history
1772- The estate is owned by the 4th Earl of Tankerville
1836- The 5th Earl of Tankerville has the old House demolished and a new house is built. It has been designed by Charles Barry. The new house is built upon the same site as the old. The house included the tall square tower which is one of the only parts which remain of Mount Felix.
1870- A new entrance drive to the house is built. Two stone gate pillars are erected. The gate pillars bear the Ingram family coat of arms. The pillars still stand in the same place (near the junction of bridge street and Oatlands drive just before Walton bridge).
The pillars coat of arms are now badly eroded, they are now over 90 years old.
1914- Mount Felix is bought by a syndicate whom intended to convert it into a country club, however because of the breakout of War in 1914 Mount Felix was taken over by the war office for a hospital for wounded New Zealand soldiers. The house was known as New Zealand No. 2 General Hospital. The house was in use throughout most of the 1914-1918 conflict and was still being used up until 1920. The only remainders of the hospitals presence in Walton-on-Thames are "New Zealand Avenue" and the "Wellington pubic house" formerly the "Kiwi"
1965- The Mount Felix estate was acquired for development .
1966- Mount Felix was badly damaged by fire and had to be demolished.
Apps Court
Apps court lay about a mile and a half to the North-East of Walton village but was still within the Parish of Walton. In 1602 the estate was bought by Francis Leigh who turned the estate into a Deer park and enlarged the house already there built in 1332 by the Lord Of Apps. In the Hearth Tax records of 1664 it says that the house contained 39 rooms with fireplaces. Apps court house was the biggest house in Walton.
The estate passed through several hands including Robert Gill who bought Apps Court in 1871. Robert Gill was involved with George Stevenson in the construction of the Manchester to Leeds Railway, he was also the president of the Great Western Railway of Canada.
The estate was acquired in 1899 by the Southwark and Vauxhall Water Company who pulled down the House and excavated most of the estate for two reservoirs known as the Knight and Bessborough Reservoir.
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