This virtual cache is a historical site on the Open University campus which is accessible to the public only during daylight hours. The cache is a building in plain site.
In 1201 Walton appears in records as an estate, consisting of land that had been taken from the Bow Brickhill Parish. The earliest owners are believed to have been the Rixbauds. The earliest surviving part of Walton Hall was built in 1622 by the Beale family. The Hall was then was owned by the Gilpins and then the Pinfold family. Thomas Pinfold (1638-1701) pulled down most of the Hall. The front white square part of the Hall was built by Thomas’ descendant, Captain Charles Pinfold, in 1830. The Hall was sold to Dr Vaughan Harley in 1907, a distinguished heart specialist of the family that gave its name to Harley Street in London. Dr Harley’s daughter and his son in law, Brigadier Eric Earle, were the last family to live there.
During the latter part of the Second World War the Hall was used to house forty WRNS who worked at Bletchley Park. The Earles moved into the nearby Walton Lodge cottage during the war. The Brigadier died in 1965 and the Hall was briefly occupied by the Milton Keynes Development Corporation Planning and Architects’ Offices. The Open University officially moved in on the 1 September 1969. The Walton Hall building continues to be used as office space, and includes the Vice-Chancellor’s Office.