Home > England > Cumbria > Brampton > Centurion Inn at Walton

Centurion Inn at Walton

Situated at the south-western edge of the village, with unbroken views across the Irthing Valley to Cold Fell, the highest peak in the northern Pennines, is the family run Centurion Inn, or, colloquially, Watton Pub!

The inn has served the area since the late 18th century and remains at the very core of village life, playing host to the Post Office as well as to local darts and dominoes teams, etc. It was known as The Black Bull as recently as 1974 when it was discovered that part of the building stood on the actual route of Hadrian's Wall. A Roman connection beckoned and The Centurion came into being. Sympathetically modernised over the years the building still maintains the look and feel of a centuries-old inn.

This parish lies on the north side of the river Irthing, between the rivulets Kingwater and Cumbeck, and is bounded on the north by Kirklinton and Stapleton, on the east by Lanercost, on the south by Brampton, and on the west by Irthington. It is divided into two townships, High Walton and Low Walton, whose united area is 4150 acres. ... As there are neither mines nor manufactures in the parish, the inhabitants are entirely dependent upon the cultivation of the land. The Roman Wall passes through the district, and the visitor will experience little difficulty in tracing both it and the fosse [ed.: a ditch or moat] in several places.

The Manor of Walton formed a portion of the Barony of Gilsland, and was given by Robert de Vallibus or Vaux, second baron, to the Abbey of Lanercost, which he had founded. It continued in the possession of the priory until the dissolution of that house; and in 1543, the manor of Walton, along with the other domains of the late abbey, was granted to Thomas Dacre, Esq., afterwards Sir Thomas Dacre, Knight, an illegitimate son of Thomas Lord Dacre of the North. It continued in the same family until 1789, when it was sold by William Dacre, Esq., to John Johnson, Esq., from whom it has descended to G.J. Johnson, Esq.,J.P. of Castlesteads. The following are also extensive landowners: Major General Frederick Thomas Whinyates, Cheltenham; Rev. Thomas Calvert, Rev. William Dacre, Irthington; George Routledge, Esq., Hayton; Mrs. Stanger and Miss Nichol.

The village of Walton is three miles north of Brampton, and ten miles from Carlisle. Like many other villages that lie along the route of Hadrian's barrier, its name (Wall Town) is characteristic, and 'bears testimony to its relationship with the Roman Wall, many of the stones of which may be detected in the cottages.'

Church History
The church, dedicated to St. Mary, is a handsome Gothic building, erected in 1869, at a cost of about £2,000. It occupies the site of one built in 1811. The church consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, tower surmounted by spire, and porch. The chancel is the property of the lord of the manor, and beneath its floor is the last resting place of that family.