The name Waterton runs like a thread through the history of Walton and it was in the year 1435 when King Henry VI was on throne of England that it makes its appearance through the marriage of Constance Assenhull and Richard Waterton.

Constance was a descendant of the de Burg family and Richard was descended from a Norman family who had taken the name Waterton from their Manor in Lincolnshire in 1199. When this couple married Richard took the title Lord of Walton and they commissioned the building of a new home. This medieval building became the first Walton Hall. The ruined water gate is the only part of the medieval hall remaining.

After Richard's death in 1479 his son Robert succeeded to his father's estates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and in the Wakefield Manor Court Rolls his name appears as the owner of the Walton Estates.

During the many years thereafter other well-known families appear on the Waterton family tree some of whom are buried in Sandal churchyard. In 1645 during the Civil War Sandal Castle was under siege and Walton Hall came under attack from a group of Parliamentarians who fired cannon balls at the Hall.

By the middle of the 17th century Walton seems to have been a prosperous agricultural outlying part of Wakefield and had grown in size which is borne out by the Hearth Tax Returns for Walton cum Bretton of 1672. This list comprised 69 householders with the number of hearths in their houses. By law householders had to pay a tax of 2 shillings per hearth.

The fortunes of the Waterton family through the ages had fluctuated probably as a result of them remaining Roman Catholics but by 'marrying money' their problems had been resolved. In 1767 Thomas Waterton on gaining his inheritance demolished the original medieval hall and replaced it with the present Georgian building. The Waterton crest was carved on top of the portico (an otter with a pike in its mouth).

Below this is the family coat of arms and below that the family motto 'Better friendly strangers than estranged kin'. A stone wall about three miles in length and 8 feet high was built surrounding the estate.

Thomas married Anne the daughter of Thomas Bedingfield in 1780 and in 1782 they became the parents of Squire Charles Waterton the renowned explorer and naturalist. Charles established what was probably the worlds first nature reserve at Walton Hall and his life was dedicated to his work. He died in 1865 aged 82 following a fall but his name lives on in various roads and buildings around Wakefield and his collection of preserved birds and animals can be seen in Wakefield museum. Walton Hall had been passed down from father to son since 1435 but in 1876 it was lost to the family forever by the Squire's son Edmund, who after living beyond his means eventually became bankrupt.

Edward Simpson, son of one of the partners of the Hodgson & Simpson soap works, bought Walton Hall in 1878 after it had been lost to the Waterton family. He was unable to move in as it had been leased to Edward Hailstone who lived there until his death in 1891. The fortunes of the Simpson's fluctuated and for some years the family had to move back in the village and rent out Walton Hall to Lord St. Oswald's son. Eventually in the 1920's they were able to return to live in Walton Hall until in 1940 it was requisitioned by the government as a military hospital, and continued in use as a maternity hospital after the war. It is now a hotel.