In the early 1900s Westerton was all farmland with a few scattered farms. A group of businessmen got together a co-operative chaired by Sir John Stirling Maxwell with the purpose of building a garden suburb with houses, a village square, a school, shops, a church and a hall for recreation; in fact a self-contained village. They chose an area with an existing canal and a railway for transporting goods. Work started and the first houses were occupied in 1913. The village hall was centrepiece of village life acting as school, church and venue for parties, concerts and flower shows. The 1st World War intervened and stopped work but by then eighty-four houses had been built in four streets and the village was born.

Today Westerton is greatly expanded with newer estates, its own purpose built primary school, church and new hall and a greatly increased population, but it is still centred on 'The Village', the original 31 houses of the garden suburb.