Since writing the above, the mansion of Aston, together with the park, has been purchased by Messrs. Greenway and Whitehead, of Warwick, who have converted the house into two tenements, disposed of the deer, turned the park into enclosures, and fallen the timber.
The church which is dedicated to St. Peter and Paul, is a stone building, with a lofty spire, and contains several monuments of the Holt family; it is also ornamented with two windows of stained glass, by Eginton. In the church-yard there is a remarkable grave stone, which is fixed east and west.[[11]] The present incumbant is the Rev. Benjamin Spencer, L.L.D.
Sir Lister Holt, the late proprietor of this estate, not having any children, and being at variance with his only brother, (who succeeded to the title), he entailed the estate upon four different families, none of whom had or are likely to have any children, although they have been in possession of it for the space of near forty years.
It is a thick stone, about two foot in height, on which is the following inscription:— EAST SIDE;
HERE
LIETH THE
BODY OF
REBECKAH
PEMBORTON
WIF OF ISAAC
PEMBORTON
BVRI 27 OF
DECEM 1660
HERE
LIETH THE
BODY OF
ISAAC PEM-
BERTON HE
DEPARTED
DECEM 4: 1697
AGED 76
WEST SIDE.
THO I AM
HERE LAID
LOW IN GRAVE
THINK ON THE
COVNSEL WICH
I GAVE THO TRO
VNLES MAY TO Y
DECEND: A GRAC
LOVS BLESSIN
IN THE END
THE FIRST
STONE SET VP
IN THIS YARD
THO OTHERS SINCE
MORE FINLY CARVED
WAS IN REMEMBERANCE
OF SHE
AN OBJECT OF
MORTALITY
Returning into the main road, you perceive on the left a double row of lofty elms, that extend about half a mile; and at the termination of the vista, Aston hall and the lofty spire of the church produce a grand effect. On the right there is a sheet of water that turns a mill for the use of the Birmingham manufacturers. You soon after cross Salford bridge, to the right of which is an aqueduct that conveys the Birmingham canal over the river Tame. The village of Erdington does not contain any object deserving of attention, but a little beyond on the right is Pipe hall, an ancient seat of the Bagot family, now occupied by the Rev. Egerton Bagot.
In the vicinity there are several neat houses, which are chiefly inhabited by wealthy people, who have retired from Birmingham. A short distance from hence Mary Ashford was found drowned on the 27th May, 1817.
About the fifth mile stone, the eye is gratified on the left with an extensive view over the country, which continually varies for a considerable distance, until a most beautiful and picturesque landscape presents itself; a white house belonging to a mill and an extensive sheet of water being in front, Barr-beacon in the back ground, and the woods in Sutton park on the right.