Walton le Dale History
An ancient village situated in close proximity to the Rivers Ribble and Darwen. The name of Walton le Dale appears more than once in mosthistory books. Julius, in his quest to expand the Roman Empire, sent numerous battalions into the north of England, including Walton le Dale. An AD 1140 charter to Henry de Lacyof Blackburn gave reference to St Leonard's Parish Church in Walton le Dale. The churchtower is typically 16th century in style, with stepped corner buttresses ground from limestone.
The church of St Leonard, situated on an eminence to the east of the town, was originally erected in the 11th century. The earliest portions of the present building are the Perpendicular chancel and tower, the nave having been rebuilt in 1798, while the transepts were erected in 1816. There are a number of interesting old brasses and monuments. Cotton-spinning is carried on, and there are market gardens in the vicinity. Roman remains have been found here, and there was perhaps a roadside post on. the site. The manor of Walton was granted by Henry de Lacy about 1130 to Robert Banastre. It afterwards passed by marriage to the Langtons, and about 1592 to the Hoghtons of Hoghton.
Walton was the principal scene of the great battle of Preston , fought on. the 17th of August 1648 between Cromwell and the duke of Hamilton.
In 1701 the duke of Norfolk, the earl of Derwentwater and other Jacobites incorporated the town by the style of the mayor and corporation of the ancient borough of Walton. In 1715 the passage of the Ribble was bravely defended against the Jacobites by Parson Woods and his parishioners of Atherton.
Legends
Midnight On the 12th August 1560 under the moonlight in St Leonard's Churchyard, Occultist and scholar Dr John Dee summoned the spirit of a man who had died before giving the whereabouts of a considerable amount of money, its said that he was successful and the spirit did indeed tell the occultist the whereabouts of the wealth, but not before also telling Dee the fate of many of the locals, which is said to have later come true.
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