ASTON
Easttun, Estone (xi cent.); Aschton, Estona (xiii
cent.).
The parish of Aston has an acreage of 2,070 acres,
of which 1,007¾ are arable land, 648¾ acres
permanent grass and 122¼ acres wood. (fn. 1) The height
of the parish above the ordnance datum is for the
most part from 200 ft. to 300 ft., but rises in the
centre to over 300 ft., the highest point (315 ft.)
being by the church. The River Beane forms the
eastern boundary of the parish and separates it from
Benington. A branch road from the Great North
Road to Benington passes across the centre of the
parish and through the village, where a network of
lanes branch off to north and south. The village lies
in the centre of the parish, with the church of
St. Mary and the manor-house on the west. In the
north of the parish is the hamlet of Aston End. In
the south-east is Frogmore Hall, a modern red brick
house surrounded by a park, the property of Mr. G. B.
Hudson, M.A., D.L., J.P., formerly M.P. for the
Hitchin division of Hertfordshire, and now the
residence of Major H. F. Low. Aston House, with
a small park, is the residence of Mr. F. W. ImbertTerry, and Barelegh that of Lady Jane van Koughnet.
Ground and Attic Plan of Aston Bury
Aston Bury, the ancient moated manor-house, is
supposed to have been built by Sir Philip Boteler
about 1540–5. Until recently it has been used
as a farm-house, but has now been restored and
is the residence of the present lord of the manor,
Mr. Vernon A. Malcolmson, and his wife, the
Hon. Mrs. Malcolmson. The house is built of
brick. Thin 2-in. bricks, rising about 10½ in
to every four courses, are used throughout; the
north front, however, up to the string over the
windows of the ground floor, and parts of the back,
are faced with flints, no stone being visible except a
built-up arch on the outside, next the hall fireplace.
In plan it is a parallelogram, 114 ft. long by 32 ft.
wide, running east and west. On the north front is
the main entrance, and on the south front are two
projecting wings, one near either end and each containing a fine oak staircase. All the window openings
and angle quoins are of brick. Above the upper floor
windows on the north front runs a heavy moulded
brick cornice, cut off abruptly without returns at each
end of the building. Above the cornice is the long
tiled roof, broken by four curved gables, in which are
windows which light the attic room. The ends of
the main building have curved gables, broken by a pair
of chimneys on either side of each gable. One pair of
chimneys has been twice rebuilt, once in the 18th
century and again recently, this time in exact
imitation of the other three, which are fine examples
of cut and moulded brickwork, having octagonal
moulded bases, circular shafts, richly diapered or
twisted, and octagonal capitals at the top. A large
attic window occupies the upper part of each gable,
and in the west gable are two tiny windows at
the first-floor level, lighting the spaces between the
projecting chimney breasts inside the rooms and the
flank walls. The projecting staircase wings at the
back are carried up to the same height as the main
walls, and between them are two groups of chimneys
similar to those already described, one having three
shafts, the other four.
The main entrance is in the centre of the north
front, and has a moulded square-headed doorway, with
a massive oak moulded door frame, and iron-studded
door. The front windows are recessed in moulded
brickwork. The ground-floor windows have square
brick heads, having a very slight camber; but, as the
bricks are not radiated to a centre, the weight seems
to be taken by the stout oak window frame and
mullions. The upper floor windows have flat
arches with properly radiating joints, pointing
probably to a somewhat later date.
Internally the building has a ground floor, with
basement under, an upper floor and one long apartment in the roof. A chapel which stood at the east
end of the building was
pulled down many years
ago. The hall would
measure about 36 ft. by
25 ft., having a large fourcentred arched fireplace 8 ft.
wide in the centre of the
south wall. Beside the fireplace is a doorway leading
into the east staircase. East
of the hall is another large
apartment. The hall and
the room to the east take
up the eastern half of the
building, and the western
half contains a panelled
room with a large open fireplace and the original kitchen
with an old iron-studded
door. The doorway near
the west end of the north
front is modern, and
occupies the position of a
built-up window; the porch
is made up of old woodwork.
The doorway between the hall and the east staircase has a wooden frame with moulded capitals and
bases, over which is a four-centred arch with carved
spandrels, the carving being of the usual flat 16th-century type. In two of the spandrels, however, are
shields of arms; on the east side are the arms of the
Botelers and on the west side are the arms of Drury
(Argent on a chief vert a tau cross between two
molets or). These arms also appear on a brass in
Watton Church. Sir Philip Boteler of Woodhall
married Elizabeth daughter of Sir Robert Drury, kt.,
of Halstead, and, as is shown in the descent of the
manor, acquired Aston in 1540 and died in 1545.
The basement cellars are not of much interest;
they are only partly below ground and have had
windows on both the north and south sides. The
massive timbers of the ground floor may be seen, as
there is no vaulting or ceiling.
There are a few original partitions on the first floor,
into which some 16th-century panelling has been introduced. But the room in the attic story is worthy of
notice. It is almost wholly in the roof and is a long
apartment running the full length of the building. It
measures 108 ft. long by 17 ft. wide. It is lighted at
each end by a large mullioned window in the gable, and
has besides four windows on the north front set in the
curved brick gables before described. These windows
are deeply recessed from the room. On the south
side of the apartment are two built-up fireplaces with
moulded and stopped jambs, the inner moulding being
carried over the opening with a flat four-centred arch,
the outer moulding running square over it. It is
almost identical with the fireplaces at Mackerye End,
Hammond's Farm, Pirton, and other old houses in
the county. The ceiling of this apartment is of
plaster, almost semicircular, and a moulded cornice of
oak, presumably the roof purlin, is carried the whole
length of each side at the springing level of the arch.
Advantage has been taken of the slope of the roof to
form a series of cupboards on the south side, entered
from the window recesses. Access is gained to the room
by short passages from both east and west staircases.
Aston Bury: Attic Gallery
The two fine oak staircases are the principal internal
features of the house, that on the east, which is entered
directly from the hall, being the richer of the two. In
each case there are straight flights of steps on three
sides of the staircase, with landings at the angles, the
fourth side having landings at each floor. Both stairs
rise from the ground floor to the attics, and the east
stair is continued down to the basement.
The parish lies on a subsoil of chalk. There are
three chalk-pits in the north of the parish. The
nearest railway station is Knebworth, on the Great
Northern main line, about three miles to the southwest.
The inclosure award, made in 1858, is in the
custody of the clerk of the peace. (fn. 2)
MANOR
Previous to the Norman Conquest the
manor of ASTON was held by three of
the men of Stigand Archbishop of Canterbury, whose names are not known. After the
Conquest is formed part of the demesne lands of
Odo Bishop of Bayeux, and was assessed at 10 hides. (fn. 3)
Odo forfeited in 1088 and Aston remained for some
time in the possession of the Crown, until Henry I
gave it to his queen Adelaide. After his death
Adelaide, who married secondly William de Albini
Earl of Arundel in 1138, (fn. 4) gave the manor of Aston
to the Abbot and monks of St. Mary of Reading for
the good of the soul of King Henry her husband. (fn. 5)
This grant was afterwards confirmed by Henry II, (fn. 6)
Richard I, John, and Henry III, (fn. 7) and the abbey of
Reading continued to hold it 'by service of praying
for the King, his progenitors and successors' (fn. 8) until
the Dissolution. After the attainder of Hugh Cooke,
the last abbot, all the possessions of the monastery
were seized by the king, Nicholas Bristowe being
appointed steward in 1540. (fn. 9) In the same year the
manor of Aston was granted to Sir Philip Boteler
of Watton Woodhall, to be held in chief for the
tenth part of a knight's fee and rent of 77s. 11d. (fn. 10)
This Sir Philip had been one of the Knights of the
Body to King Henry VIII in 1516, (fn. 11) and was
Sheriff of Hertfordshire in 1524–6, 1530, 1532 and
1538–40. (fn. 12) In 1530 he was one of the commissioners for Hertfordshire to inquire concerning the
possessions of Wolsey. (fn. 13) In 1537 he was present
at the christening of Prince Edward, (fn. 14) afterwards
Edward VI, and in 1539–40
was among the knights appointed to meet Anne of
Cleves, (fn. 15) on which occasion he
was one of those who 'stood
from the park pales upon the
heath (Blackheath) to the
meeting-place' (at Shooter's
Hill). (fn. 16) In 1544 his name
was enrolled as supplying men
for the rearguard in the army
against France, (fn. 17) and later in
the same year he was appointed to levy recruits. (fn. 18) He
died in 1545. (fn. 19) From this date Aston descended in
the same manner as Watton Woodhall (q.v.) until
1778, when John Palmer Boteler sold Aston to
Sir Thomas Rumbold. (fn. 20) The latter died in 1791,
and in 1794 the manor was sold by trustees to Paul
Bendfield, (fn. 21) who in turn sold it to Edmund Darby
in 1801. (fn. 22) After the death of Edmund Darby in
1831 Aston was sold to Ann Walmsley of Hoddesdon,
who left it by will to her great-nephew Donat John
Hoste O' Brien, who was lord of the manor in 1877. (fn. 23)
His successor, Captain William Edward Freeman
O'Brien, sold Aston in 1907 to Mr. Vernon A.
Malcolmson and his wife the Hon. Mrs. Malcolmson,
granddaughter of the
second Earl of
Leicester. (fn. 24)
Boteler of Woodhall. Gules a fesse checky argent and sable between six crosslets or.
Aston Bury from the North-west
St. Alban's Abbey. Azure a saltire or.
Nodes of Shephall. Sable a pile argent with three trefoils sable thereon.
In 1287 the Abbot
of Reading claimed
view of frankpledge
and free warren in
Aston, (fn. 25) but in the
reign of Edward I
he claimed in addition, in all his Hertfordshire lands, sac
and soc, toll and
team, infangentheof,
utfangentheof,
gallows, tumbrel, and
chattels of felons and
fugitives, also freedom
from suit at the hundred court, from
paying danegeld,
shiregeld and other
dues (fn. 26) ; so doubtless
these privileges
applied to Aston.
Certain lands in
Aston were granted
before 1065 by Wulf,
'a certain Dane, a
very powerful minister' of King Edward the Confessor, to St. Alban's
Abbey. (fn. 27) After the Dissolution the lands of St.
Alban's Abbey in Aston were granted with the manor
of Shephall to George Nodes. (fn. 28) In 1570 they were in
the possession of Charles Nodes, (fn. 29) his nephew, (fn. 30) and
presumably descended with the manor of Shephall.
In 1564 a messuage in Aston, at the church gate,
and a cottage called the Almshouse, with land called
Hoobarnetts Croft, Grynsie Croft and Gallowfield,
part of the manor of Aston, were granted by Sir John
Boteler to John Kent in free socage. (fn. 31) The latter
died in 1592 and was succeeded by his son Thomas, (fn. 32)
who died in 1635, leaving a son also named Thomas. (fn. 33)
CHURCH
St. Mary The Virgin
The parish church of ST. MARY
THE VIRGIN, (fn. 34) consisting of a chancel,
nave, west tower, north aisle, north
vestry and south porch, stands on high ground to the
west of the village. It is built of flint with stone
dressings and the roofs are covered with lead. The
tower and nave have embattled parapets. The
chancel and nave date from about 1230, and probably
represent the whole of the original church. It was
not until the end of the 14th or the beginning of the
15th century that the west tower was added. Towards
the end of the 15th century new windows were
inserted, the church was re-roofed and various repairs
were executed. Further alterations took place in the
16th century, and in 1850 the church was restored.
Finally, in 1883, restoration again took place, and
the north vestry, north aisle and south porch were
added.
Aston Church from the South-west
The chancel has a modern east window of three
lights, trefoiled, with tracery above. In the north
wall, which is pierced by a wide opening into the
modern north vestry, are the jambs and rear arch of
a 13th-century lancet window. There is also on
this side, at the west, a modern single light with a
four-centred head. On the south side are two
square-headed 16th-century two-light windows, much
restored and repaired with cement; between them is
a modern door with a two-centred head. At the
south-east end of the wall is a large double piscina
with a single drain and divided by a central pillar.
The heads are trefoiled, and the date is early in the
13th century.
The roof of the chancel, as also that of the nave, is
of the 15th century, low pitched, with moulded
trusses, with carved bosses at the intersections of the
trusses with the purlins. The screen is a good
example of early 16th-century woodwork, with
tracery in the heads. The capitals of the chancel
arch have been much mutilated to admit of the fitting
of the screen, and the arch probably dates from the
first years of the 16th century.
In the nave very few original details can be traced;
the north arcade is of course contemporary with the
building of the aisle in 1883, and the south windows
are also modern. The walls, however, are probably
of the 13th century. A lofty four-centred arch opens
from the nave to the tower, and is original. The
west window is also original, and is of three lights,
with tracery above, much restored, and repaired with
cement. In this window is a little white and gold
15th-century glass. The modern south porch is
approached by a two-centred doorway, and has east
and west windows of two lights in square heads. Its
entrance arch is two-centred with shafted jambs; it
is faced with flint and stone in quarries, and has a
gable with a stone coping and cross.
The tower is of two stages with diagonal buttresses,
and has a 15th-century west door, much repaired.
The bell-chamber is lighted by four louvres with
two-centred heads.
The communion table is of the 17th century, and
the pulpit is octagonal, of panelled oak, of about
1630. There is a brass on the floor of the nave of
John Kent and his wife, with an inscription and the
date 1592.
The bells number six, and include a second and
third by Miles Graye, dated 1629. The fifth is also
of 1629, but recast in 1840.
The plate includes a cup, a cover paten and a paten
of 1571, and a cup of 1612.
The registers are in two books: (i) baptisms and
burials from 1558 to 1812, and marriages from 1558
to 1753; (ii) marriages from 1754 to 1812.
In 1505 Sir John Smith, the parson of Aston, left
26s. 8d. towards the making of a tabernacle for the
image of St. Margaret in the church, (fn. 35) and in 1524
John Kent left 40/. for the same purpose. (fn. 36) An altar
of St. Katherine is mentioned, with that of the
Blessed Virgin, in 1484. (fn. 37)
ADVOWSON
The invocation of Aston Church
seems to have been changed about
the end of the 15th century, for in
1430 and apparently in 1490 it is referred to as
St. James, (fn. 38) but in 1505 and after as our Lady. (fn. 39)
The presentation to the church seems to have always
belonged to the lord of the manor. It was confirmed
to the monastery of Reading by William Earl of
Arundel, Queen Adelaide's husband, (fn. 40) and by
Henry II (fn. 41) and Edward III. (fn. 42) The church was
never appropriated, and the living is a rectory.
The abbey continued to hold the advowson until
the Dissolution. (fn. 43) In 1540 it was granted together
with the manor to Sir Philip Boteler, (fn. 44) and followed
the same descent until 1801, when it was sold
after the death of Paul Bendfield to Alexander
Ellice of Bath, (fn. 45) who presented to the living in 1804. (fn. 46)
His son William Ellice (fn. 47) presented in 1809. (fn. 48) John
Corfield made presentation in 1815, (fn. 49) and was still
patron in 1822 (fn. 50) ; but this was probably only an
alienation for a term of years, as the Rev. James
Ellice presented.in 1829. (fn. 51) The latter held the
advowson until 1849, when the Rev. George Augustus
Oddie became patron, (fn. 52) and remained so until 1890.
For the next five years the presentation was held by
Mr. John Oddie and five others, (fn. 53) who were succeeded
in 1895 by the Rev. George Venables Oddie, the
present patron and incumbent. (fn. 54)
A portion of the tithes, granted in 1253 to the
abbey of Colchester, (fn. 55) is recorded in the Taxation of
Pope Nicholas in 1291, (fn. 56) and in the assessment for
a feudal aid in 1428. (fn. 57) In both these entries the
portion of Reading is valued at £1, and that of
Colchester at £2 6s. 8d.
A terrier of the parsonage made in 1638 states
that there was then 'a dwelling house with an orchard,
a garden, a courtyard: and an outyeard with 2 barnes,
2 stables, one hayhouse, a Cart house, a Dove coate,
2 smal garners: a woodhouse, a woodyard, a henhouse, with an old outhouse.' (fn. 58)
A meeting-place for Protestant Dissenters was
certified at Aston at various dates between 1697 and
1834. (fn. 59) There is now an undenominational missionroom.
CHARITIES
It appears from the parliamentary
returns of 1786 that a sum of £80
was given for the poor by a donor
unknown. The gift, with accumulations, is now
represented by £104 15s. consols with the official
trustees. The annual dividends, amounting to
£2 12s. 4d., are applied in the distribution of fuel or
clothing by the rector and churchwardens.
The official trustees also hold a sum of £65 12s. 4d.
consols, arising from the sale of the Calvinistic Baptist
chapel at Aston End. The annual dividends, amounting to £1 12s. 8d., are applied towards the support
and maintenance of the chapel at Stevenage.