Walkerton
Walkerton LSL S NO235012 1 105m
Waulkerton Mills 1828 SGF
North Walkerton 1856 OS 6 inch 1st edn [‘Bleach Field’ also marked]
Walkerton 1956 OS 1:25,000 [reprinted 1968]
Walkerton 1957 OS 1 inch 7th Series
Sc waulker + Sc toun
A waulker is a fuller, who cleanses and thickens cloth by beating after weaving, which perhaps explains the association with Bleach Field (1856), where another part of the cloth-preparation process was carried out. The process was mechanised using water-powered installations known as waulkmills.
On the River Leven there were two waulkmills near each other, one on the north bank, on the lands of Strathenry LSL, the other on the south bank, on the lands of Goatmilk KGL. The settlement attached to each of these mills bore the name of Walkerton, distinguished from each other by various affixes. For Walkerton KGL see s.n. PNF 1. On OS Pathf. and OS Explorer (2001), (North) Walkerton is called Strathendry (sic).
The waulkmill is referred to as the waulkmill of Strathendry in 1821 (Sasines no. 280).
The name survives in the Leslie street-name Walkerton Drive (NO240013).
This place-name appeared in printed volume 2