Walton-on-the-Naze facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Walton-on-the-Naze |
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 Walton-on-the-Naze |
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 Walton-on-the-Naze
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| Population | 12,054 |
| OS grid reference | TM246214 |
| Civil parish | |
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| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WALTON ON THE NAZE |
| Postcode district | CO14 |
| Dialling code | 01255 |
| Police | Essex |
| Fire | Essex |
| Ambulance | East of England |
| EU Parliament | East of England |
| UK Parliament |
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Walton-on-the-Naze is a seaside town on the North Sea coast. It is part of the parish of Frinton and Walton, in the Tendring district in Essex, England. The town is located north of Clacton and south of the port of Harwich; Frinton-on-Sea lies to the south of the town. The town has a population of 12,054, according to the 2011 census; in 1931, the parish had a population of 3,071. The town attracts many visitors; The Naze and the pier are the main attractions.
The parish was earlier known as Eadolfenaesse and then as Walton-le-Soken. The name Walton is a common one meaning a 'farmstead or village of the Britons', while 'Soken' denotes the soke (an area of special jurisdiction) that included Thorpe, Kirby and Walton, which were not under the see of London but under the chapter of St Paul's Cathedral.
Walton had a HM Coastguard team and was home to the Thames MRCC (Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre), organising rescues from Southwold to Herne Bay. It closed in June 2015, as part of a Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) modernisation programme, transferring its operations to a national centre in Fareham on the south coast. Walton-on-the-Naze railway station is on a branch of the Sunshine Coast Line. Along the coast there are many fossils to be found, some have been found to be up to 50 million years old. Rocks include red crag and London clay.
Contents
The Naze
"Naze" derives from Old English næss "ness, promontory, headland". In 1722 Daniel Defoe mentions the town calling it "Walton, under the Nase".
The Naze is a peninsula north of the town. It is important for migrating birds and has a small nature reserve. The marshes of Hamford Water behind the town are also of ornithological interest, with wintering ducks and Brent geese. Many bird watchers visit at migration times.
The Hanoverian tower (more commonly known as the Naze Tower) at the start of the open area of the Naze was a sea mark to assist ships on this otherwise fairly featureless coast. It is now privately owned and open to visitors.
During the Second World War the Naze was home to a radar station, with some of its aerials mounted on the tower.
Originally, Walton was a farming village situated miles inland. Over the centuries a large extent of land has been lost to the sea due to coastal erosion. The site of the medieval village of Walton now lies nine miles out to sea; its old church finally succumbed in July 1798. Its last service was held on 22 July 1798. This loss of land to the sea is recorded on a Canon's stall in St Paul's Cathedral with the inscription Consumpta per Mare.
The Naze continues to erode rapidly (at about 2 metres per year), threatening the tower and wildlife. The Naze Protection Society was formed to campaign for erosion controls. The Naze has become popular for school fieldwork to investigate erosion and ways to protect the coast. Protection includes a sea wall, a riprap, groynes and a permeable groyne as well as drainage. Millions of tons of sand have been added to the beach to replenish it and stop the cliff eroding. However, the cliff near Naze Tower is greatly eroded. It is receding fast, and within 50 years Naze Tower may tumble into the sea like the pill boxes that can be seen on the beach.
The cliffs themselves are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), the base of which is London Clay (54 million years old) which is overlaid with a 2-million-year-old sandy deposit of Red Crag. This sandy deposit contains many fossils including bivalve and gastropod shells, sharks' teeth and whale bones. The clay base is considered one of the best sites for pyritised fossils (mainly wood), and for bird bones (which are very rare); in 1998, David Attenborough estimated that over 600 specimens of bird fossil had been found at the site.
Climate
Like the rest of the British Isles, Walton-on-the-Naze has an oceanic climate, with slightly more marine influence than nearby inland areas due to its position on the North Sea coast.
| Climate data for Walton-on-Naze (1991–2020) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.0 (44.6) |
7.9 (46.2) |
10.1 (50.2) |
12.1 (53.8) |
15.7 (60.3) |
18.8 (65.8) |
21.5 (70.7) |
21.0 (69.8) |
18.8 (65.8) |
15.0 (59.0) |
10.9 (51.6) |
7.9 (46.2) |
13.9 (57.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.1 (35.8) |
2.6 (36.7) |
3.8 (38.8) |
6.0 (42.8) |
9.1 (48.4) |
12.0 (53.6) |
15.0 (59.0) |
14.6 (58.3) |
12.3 (54.1) |
9.5 (49.1) |
5.8 (42.4) |
2.9 (37.2) |
8.0 (46.4) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 48.2 (1.90) |
45.9 (1.81) |
35.3 (1.39) |
33.3 (1.31) |
30.6 (1.20) |
36.9 (1.45) |
48.7 (1.92) |
58.5 (2.30) |
49.4 (1.94) |
54.6 (2.15) |
60.4 (2.38) |
53.9 (2.12) |
555.8 (21.88) |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 61.9 | 89.2 | 128.7 | 201.9 | 231.1 | 232.2 | 228.7 | 222.7 | 167.7 | 123.2 | 77.0 | 59.8 | 1,824 |
| Source: Met Office | |||||||||||||
Walton Pier
The original 150 ft pier was built in 1830, one of the earliest in the country. It was built for landing goods and passengers on steamers to Walton, and was lengthened to 330 ft in 1848. The pier was badly damaged in a storm in January 1871. A second pier opened in 1880, which also did not last. In 1895, the Walton Pier & Hotel Company Ltd opened a replacement pier 500 ft longer than the original. in 1898, The Coast Development Company extended the pier to 2610 ft, becoming the third longest pier in the country. When the new pier opened in 1895, an electric tramway was installed to take passengers from the steamers to the front of the pier. This was in use until 1935 when it was upgraded to a battery-powered carriage. In 1945 fire damaged the pier, and the carriage was replaced by a diesel locomotive train. This was removed during the 1970s. In February 2021, part of the pier collapsed into the sea during Storm Darcy.
In 1937, the pier was bought by Charles Goss, who formed the New Walton Pier Company. At the time, the pier featured a pavilion at the seaward end, an amusement arcade, a tent that served as a theatre, and the Seaspray Lounge. In October 2011, the pier was put up for sale for £2.5 million, and was taken off the market in February 2012. In July 2016, the pier was bought by Russell Bolesworth for an unspecified amount. In 2022, the pier underwent a major revamp with a large arcade area, and was reopened to the public on July 16, 2022.
The Walton and Frinton lifeboat has been moored afloat near the end of the pier since 1900.
War memorial
The unusual war memorial commemorates a Halifax crew who all died when they crashed on the Naze. It also has a tribute to Herbert George Columbine, who was awarded the VC and after whom the local leisure centre is named, and a tribute to those lost from HMS Conquest during World War I.
Lifeboat house
The old lifeboat house on East Terrace dates from 1884: it now houses the Walton Maritime Museum. It was designed by C H Cooke and is a grade II listed building.
Notable residents
- Frank Paton, artist, moved to Walton-on-the-Naze shortly before his death in 1909.
- Ben Raemers, professional skateboarder, lived in Walton-on-the-Naze and grew up there, where he first started skateboarding at the age of 10.
Governance
Although the civil parish is now shown under Frinton and Walton, an electoral ward in the name of Walton still exists. The population of this ward at the 2011 Census was 4,372. On 1 April 1934 the parish was abolished to form "Frinton and Walton".
See also
In Spanish: Walton-on-the-Naze para niños
