Aston is a residential village in the

Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham The Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham is a metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. It is named after its largest town, Rotherham, but also spans the outlying towns of Maltby, Swinton, Wath-upon-Dearne, Dinnington and also the vill ...

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. In N ...

, England. The village falls within the Holderness ward of the borough. Aston is approximately from

Rother Valley Country Park The Rother Valley Country Park is a country park in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, close to Rotherham's border with Sheffield and Derbyshire. It covers 3 square kilometres (740 acres), has four artificial lakes, recre ...

History

Aston was traditionally a farming village and some old farm buildings still line the main road. In the early 20th century the population increased because of the opening of

coal mines Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron from ...

in the area. It joined local villages Aughton and

Swallownest Swallownest is a village in the civil parish of Aston cum Aughton and the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The village is south of Rotherham and from Sheffield. Swallownest borders the Sheffield suburb of Woodhouse ...

, to form the

Aston cum Aughton Aston cum Aughton is a civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England, with a population of 13,961 according to the 2001 census. It consists of the villages of Aston and Aughton, along with Swallownest. To ...

civil parish.

Etymology

Unlike other places of the same name, Aston does not mean "eastern farm or village," but instead originates from the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

words ''tun'' "

farm A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used fo ...

, village, and estate" with an uncertain first element. The name was recorded as ''Essetone'' in 1039, suggesting

''ǣsc'' "

ash tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of flowering plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae. It contains 45–65 species of usually medium to large trees, mostly deciduous, though a number of subtropical species are evergree ...

" (as in Ashton and Ashton-in-Makerfield), although this is not certain.

Landmarks

Aston Hall

At the eastern end of the village is Grade II*

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Aston Hall which was a large country house, afterwards a hospital, and at one time known as Aughton Court before becoming a hotel and restaurant. It gives its name to Aston Hall Cricket Club, which plays home games close to the Hall. A nearby street named "The Chase" suggests that the surrounding housing estate now occupies land that formed the traditional hunting grounds attached to the hall.

Church of All Saints

Adjacent to Aston Hall is the oldest surviving structure in the village, the Grade I listed Church of All Saints. It is built on the site of earlier church listed in the ''

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

'', and parts of it date to 12th, 14th and 15th centuries though with restoration works including rebuilding of the chancel in the 19th century. Monuments in the church include two wall plaques to

William Mason William, Willie, or Willy Mason may refer to: Arts and entertainment *William Mason (poet) (1724–1797), English poet, editor and gardener *William Mason (architect) (1810–1897), New Zealand architect *William Mason (composer) (1829–1908), Ame ...

a former rector of the church. The old rectory building on Church Lane was also worked on by

John Carr John Carr may refer to: Politicians *John Carr (Indiana politician) (1793–1845), American politician from Indiana *John Carr (Australian politician, born 1819) (1819–1913), member of the South Australian House of Assembly, 1865–1884 * John H ...

, it is named High Trees and is Grade II listed as are a number of other 18th and early 19th century buildings along the main road (Worksop Road) including The Grange and South Farm. To the north of these on Aughton Lane is the William Layne Reading Room, a building that was formally Aston Old School, founded in 1738, next to which stands a war memorial erected in 2011.

Education

Aston Academy is the local high school, specialising in mathematics and computing. Most pupils come from the Aston-cum-Aughton area, with others from nearby villages such as Beighton, Woodhouse and Treeton. Local primary schools are: * Aston C of E (Church of England) * Aston Hall Primary * Aston Lodge Primary * Aston Springwood Junior & Infant School * Swallownest Primary * Aughton Primary * Aston Fence Junior & Infant

References

External links

* * {{authority control Villages in South Yorkshire Geography of the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham