Walton-le-Dale

Coordinates: 53°44′46″N 2°39′54″W / 53.746°N 2.665°W / 53.746; -2.665

Walton-le-Dale is a large village in the Borough of South Ribble, in Lancashire, England. It lies on the south bank of the River Ribble, opposite the city of Preston, adjacent to Bamber Bridge. The population of the South Ribble Ward at the 2011 census was 3,792.

History

Toponymy

Walton is derived from walh and tun and means the farmstead or settlement of the Britons. It was recorded in the Domesday Book as Waletune. In the 13th century it was recorded as Waleton and since about 1300 Waleton in le (la) Dale, or Walton in the valley.

Early history

The remains of a Roman fort at the junction of the River Darwen and River Ribble at Walton-le-Dale were discovered by accident in the mid 19th century. Roman remains found here include pottery and coins. The fort may have been the Rigodunum of Ptolemy.

Manor

Two oxgangs of land in Walton belonged to King Edward the Confessor in 1066, and after the Norman Conquest, was the demesne of Roger de Busli and Albert Grelley. The manor passed in about 1130 to Henry de Lacy of Pontefract and was later granted to the Banastres and their successors the Langtons. John de Langton obtained the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair in October in 1301. The manor passed from the Langtons to the Hoghtons of Hoghton who held the manor as mesne lord.