Walton Hall, Wakefield: The eclectic life of Charles Waterton and and how the hall became the world's first 'dedicated nature reserve'

Following the Reformation, the Watertons maintained their Catholic faith and over many years lost material benefits only easing by the 18th century.

At the age of 29, Thomas Waterton, inherited an Elizabethan manor house, Walton Hall in 1767, and demolished it. This was apart from an old water gate beside the lake covering 30 acres. Another article dated May 16, 1908 says that ‘the old Walton Hall had been garrisoned by the Royalists in the Civil War and was stormed by the Parliamentary troops.’

A new Hall built in a Neo-Classical style was erected by Thomas Waterton on a small island adjacent to the southern bank of the lake. Above the main entrance the family crest was placed: a stone carving of an otter with a fat fish in its mouth. Alongside is a motto: ‘Better kinde frende than strange kine,’. This can be translated, it is not always a good idea to trust one’s relatives.

The three-storey Hall was reached via a cast-iron bridge which replaced a stone structure. Thomas’s son, Charles was born in the new Hall on June 3, 1782. The Waterton parkland covered some 300 acres and the family survived on the income received from leasing arable land, two farms and a few cottages.

Initially tutored at Walton Hall, Charles later spent his early school years at a newly established Catholic school in Tudloe. Then, he attended Lancashire’s Stonyhurst College. Whilst there, he became rat-catcher to the establishment, and also fox-taker.

By 1802, Charles was staying in Malaga, Spain with his maternal uncles. Whilst there he spent much of his time birdwatching and visiting Cadiz and Gibraltar. Charles’ father Thomas died in March, 1805 and his mother during 1819.

At the rear of the Hall, Charles placed an unusual sundial. It was made by George Boulby, a local stonemason in 1813 and indicated the time in various cities of the world. Between 1812 and 1824, Charles spent time in South America. On a trip to Demerara in 1820, he captured a cayman or alligator on the Essequibo River, increasing his ever-growing reputation as an eccentric. In article from November 17, 1825, he recalled how an enormous snake was caught: ‘I let him come hissing within two feet of my face, and then, with all the force I was master of, I drove my fist, shielded with my hat, full in his jaws. He was first stunned and confounded by the blow, and ere he could recover himself, I had seized him by the throat with both hands, in such a situation that he could not bite me. I then allowed him to coil himself round my body, and marched off with him as my lawful prize.’

Many of Charles’s exploits were recorded in books: Waterton’s Wanderings in South America (1826) and Essays on Natural History (three volumes 1838, 1844 and 1857). His books inspired Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.

Becoming a skilled taxidermist, Charles preserved a number of animals encountered on his expeditions. Some of these taxidermy works bring out his anarchic sense of humour. One piece (unfortunately now lost) featured reptiles dressed as famous Englishmen and was titled ‘The English Reformation Zoologically Demonstrated.’

After returning to Walton Hall in the 1820s, he became increasingly aware of the destruction to the natural world caused by the profusion of industrial activity happening all around him.

Building a nine-foot-high wall (sometimes even larger in places), it stretched three miles (5km) around the estate, and he turned it into the world’s first wildfowl and nature reserve. The cost of the project was £9,000 and it was completed after four years in 1826.

Charles used to say that the wall was built out of the port which he did not drink. One of its purposes was to keep out poachers and casual intruders. To frustrate poachers, who did stray into the estate, he fixed wooden birds on the branches of trees in the park.

A notice from January 2, 1826 mentioned that Charles had given £100 ‘for the use of the poor of Walton, during the present winter.’ Additionally, he gave a plot of land to each poor family of the village, for growing potatoes.

The interior of Walton Hall resembled a museum. It was crowded with natural history items, his taxidermal creations, strange mementoes from his trips abroad, and classical paintings.

In 1829, he married 17-year-old Anne Edmonstone. She was the granddaughter of a chief of the Arowak Indians of Guiana. Sadly, Anne died in April 1830, just three weeks after the birth of their son, Edmund.

Blaming himself for her death, Charles resolved to serve the rest of his life in ‘self -inflicted penance for her soul’ and thereafter slept on the bare floor, with a hollowed-out block of wood for a pillow and a military cloak for a covering. Anne’s sisters Helen and Eliza helped Charles maintain the estate.

Being an early opponent of pollution, Charles fought a long-running court case against the Simpson family, owners of a soapworks established near his estate in 1839. The emission of poisonous chemicals from the works damaged trees in Walton Park and polluted the lake. Eventually, the works were transferred to another location.

The Sheffield and Rotherham Independent of July 27, 1850 noted that the annual excursion of the Literary and Philosophical society had been made to Walton Hall several days earlier. It was added: ‘The celebrated museum is chiefly, if not altogether, arranged on the staircase.’

Charles Waterton died in 1865 following a fall on the estate. His funeral was quite a theatrical event. His coffin was taken from the Hall to his chosen resting place by boat, in a funeral cortege led by the Bishop of Beverley. It was followed at the lakeside by many local people.

Edmund, his only son and heir was declared bankrupt shortly after his father’s death. He then sold Walton Hall to family enemies the Simpsons. He died in 1887. For a time, the Hall was let to Edward Hailstone.

A notice from May 1908 states that Messrs Saville and Kilburn were ‘honoured with instructions from Edward Simpson to sell a portion of the contents of Walton Hall.’ This included paintings, books, furniture and cases of animals and birds.

On June 9, 1923, the grounds of Walton Hall were thrown open to the public at a small charge, the proceeds went towards the preservation of the windows of York Minster.

Towards the end of 1940, Walton Hall was requisitioned under the Defence Regulations for use as an emergency maternity home. A notice from July 10, 1942, mentions that it was ready for opening. This continued until the mid-1960s. For a time, the building was converted to a country club, and a squash club was there by 1981. From 1989, Walton Hall became a privately owned hotel.

In March 2024, the estate was added to the official register of parks and gardens as ‘the first dedicated nature reserve for the protection of native wild species in the world.’