Aston, Warwickshire

Historical Description

Aston, a parish in Warwickshire, lying partly within the boundaries of the city of Birmingham, of which it is practically a suburb. It is traversed by the old Roman Icknield Street, and the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal. It comprises Deritend, Bordesley, Duddeston-cum-Nechells, Aston Manor, Witton, Erdington, Little Bromwich, Saltley and Washwood, Castle-Bromwich, and Water-Orton. Area of the parish, 14,074 acres; population, 249,282. The parliamentary borough of Aston Manor, which was constituted by the Redistribution of Seats Act of 1885, has an area of 959 acres; population, 68,639. Aston Manor has a post office in Aston Road, and a station on the L. & N.W.R., at the junction of the Walsall and Sutton Coldfield branches. The manor belonged to the Saxon Earls of Mercia; was given, at the Conquest, to William Fitz-Ausculf; and passed to the Pagenels, the Erdingtons, and the Holts. The manor-house, Aston Hall, stands on a rising ground, at the end of a fine avenue, in the NE outskirts of the town; is a noble edifice in the Tudor style, built in the time of James I. by Sir Thomas Holt; gave entertainment to Charles I. prior to the battle of Edge-Hill, and was forced to surrender afterwards to the Parliamentarian forces; and was for some years the residence of James Watt, son of the famous engineer. Most of a beautiful park which surrounded it has been built on; but the Hall and surrounding grounds are the property of the corporation of Birmingham, and form a museum and public park, opened in 1858 by the Queen and the Prince Consort. Adjacent to the park are the Aston Lower Grounds. The parish church stands 300 yards E of the hall; is an interesting edifice datingfrom about the loth century, with fine tower and spire; it has suffered great changes and mutilations, and has been almost entirely rebuilt. It contains several altar tombs and brasses, some fine antique oak seats, a carved churchyard cross of Early English date, and beautiful windows of stained glass. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Worcester; value, £750. Aston Manor is governed by a Local Board. The town-hall, at the corner of Albert and Witton Roads, is a building of red brick in the Queen Anne style; it contains the offices of the Local Board, and also a free library. New public baths were erected in 1891, a technical school in 1892, and a theatre in 1893. The Hall Almshouses, founded in 1656, maintain five men and five women.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Aston from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Aston (St. Peter and St. Paul))

Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Warwickshire is available to browse.

Maps

Online maps of Aston are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Warwickshire papers online:

• Leamington Spa Courier

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitation of Warwickshire 1619 is available on the Heraldry page.