St Leonard’s Church in Walton-le-Dale
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.
In the early twentieth century cotton-spinning is carried on nearby, and there were market gardens in the vicinity. Roman remains were found here, in Walton-le-Dale, 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.
Burials at St Leonard in the Parish of Walton-le-Dale
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1751 – 1760 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1761 – 1772 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1773 – 1782 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1783 – 1792 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1793 – 1798 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1799 – 1806 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1807 – 1809 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1810 – 1812 with Surname Index
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1813 – 1837 with Surname Index
The Register for 1813 – 1837 is divided into batches covering 7 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below
1813 – 1819 1820 – 1826 1827 – 1833 1834 – 1837
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1837 – 1861 with Surname Index
The Register for 1837 – 1861 is divided into batches covering 7 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below
1837 – 1843 1844 – 1850 1851 – 1857 1858 – 1861
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1861 – 1880 with Surname Index
The Register for 1861 – 1880 is divided into batches covering 7 years
Batches for the individual years may be accessed via the links below
1861 – 1867 1868 – 1874 1875 – 1880
The Register for Burials at St Leonard 1880 – 1889 with Surname Index
There are 11175 Burial Records extracted for this Church
History of St Leonards Walton Le Dale
A chapel belonging to the church at Blackburn is mentioned in the deed of Henry de Lacey of c1166, and in 1228 was among the lands in Blackburn parish transferred to the Cistercian monks of Stanlaw Abbey. Walton church was already dedicated to St Leonard, possesses it’s own churchyard, lands and tithes, although it was only to be created as an independent parish in 1837. It is steeped in local history as captured by Dr David Hunt, local historian, in his book “St Leonard Walton le Dale”. Little of the pre-reformation building survives away from the chancel and the tower. The nave has been rebuilt on a number of occasions. As early as 1503 Ralph Langton bequeathed 20 marks towards its rebuilding. In 1798 it was pulled down, transepts were added in 1816, with further work in 1855, before an extensive rebuild in 1904-06. It is probable that the chancel contains burials of the early Lords of Walton and there is a gravestone in memory of Samuel Crook, who was killed in a fight cum duel, which can still be seen.
The North Transept has now been developed into a more usable area to encourage families with children to join our services and generally improve our facilities as part of our Mission. This has been designed to keep families part of our worship whilst being located in a more child friendly and relaxed space for all the family. Although it still needs some finer touches, it is used regularly by families. We have also created a robing area for our choir, which is more accessible for them, and a cupboard designed specifically to store the altar cloths.
The tower has a peal of bells, which are rung on Sundays and can be requested for weddings. We have a group learning to ring the chimes and one person, who can not only ring the chimes but is learning to ring the bells, which more of us hope to do later in the year. The tower also houses our church clock. A new mechanism was fitted to the clock in June 2018 and it now adjusts itself in the Spring and Autumn when the clocks go forward and back respectively. We were plagued by birds nesting in the tower and causing a lot of damage, however, in April 2019, netting was fitted to deter and prevent further nesting, which appears to have been successful.
The Church of St. Leonard in Walton-le-Dale is listed on the National Heritage List for England.
https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1074102
