Curiosities of Great Britain: England and Wales Delineated Vol.1-11 / Historical, Entertaining & Commercial; Alphabetically Arranged. 11 Volume set.

by Thomas Dugdale

[C] ASTLEY. This manor was held, in the reign of Henry II., by Philip de Estley, of the Earl of Warwick, by the service of holding the Earl's Singular tenure. stirrup when he mounted or alighted from his horse. From this person are descended two families, seated at Hill Morton, in this county, and at Patshull, in Staffordshire. In the reign of Henry V. the estate passed by marriage to the Greys of Ruthin, from whom it descended to Henry Grey, Marquis of Dorset, and Duke of Suffolk, beheaded in the reign of Queen Mary, for an attempt to make Lady Jane Grey queen. The manor belongs at present to F.P. Newdigate, Esq. Astley Castle is surrounded by a moat, along the inner edge of which lie the remains of massive walls. The habitable part of the mansion is probably not older than the time of Mary; but it is clad in a garb of ivy, and other evergreens, which renders it singularly picturesque. In one room is preserved a portrait of the factious Suffolk, respecting whose capture the following particulars are related:—"Finding that he was forsaken, he put himself under the trust Lord Suffolk betrayed by his keeper. of one Underwood, as it is said, a keeper of his park here at Astley, who hid him for some few days in a large hollow tree, standing about two bow-shots from the church; but, being promised a reward, he betrayed him." The church of Astley having been made collegiate, by Lord Thomas de Astley, was by him rebuilt, and adorned with a spire, so lofty that it served as a land-mark in the deep wood-lands of the district, and was popularly termed "The lanthorn of Arden."—The interior is curious and interesting, although many monuments and decorations have been removed or destroyed at various times. On an altar-tomb at the west-end are the effigies, in alabaster, of a warrior and a lady; and on another, is the mutilated figure of a female in a recumbent posture: both are without inscription.

[D] ASTLEY. This village is situated on the Severn, it was noted before the dissolution, for its priory of Benedictines, and is now remarkable chiefly for a hermitage formed in the living rock, and recently converted into an Hermitage. ale-house. The church, built in the Saxon style of architecture, contains some monuments and a few fragments of stained glass. Here is the ancient seat called Glasshampton.

Map	Names of Places		County	Number of Miles From						Dist. Lond.	Popul ation.
33	Astley Abbots	pa	Salop	Bridgenorth	2	M. Wenlock	7	Madeley	6	142	666
5	Aston	ham	Bucks	Ivinghoe	1	Dunstable	7	Leighton	5	34	406
7	Aston	to	Chester	Northwich	3	Warrington	8	Frodsham	9	176	409
7	Aston	to & chap	Chester	Frodsham	3	Northwich	8	Warrington	8	181	197
10	Aston	ham	Derby	Tideswell	6	Castleton	2	Derwent	3	164	104
53	Aston	to	Flint	Hawarden	2	Flint	6	Chester	6	197	237
17	Aston	pa	Hereford	Ludlow	4	Leominster	10	Wigmore	4	143	56
18	Aston[A]	pa	Herts	Stevenage	3	Watton	4	Welwyn	6	30	494
56	Aston	to	Montgomery	Ch. Stretton	10	Montgomery	7	Bishop's Cas.	2	161	84
31	Aston	ham	Oxford	Witney	5	Bampton	2	Ensham	7	69	699
35	Aston	to	Stafford	Drayton	6	Newcastle	6	Eccleshall	8	154	277
39	Aston[B]	pa	Warwick	Birmingham	2	Tamworth	13	Coleshill	9	111	32118
46	Aston[C]	to & pa	N.R. York	Rotherham	6	Sheffield	8	Maltby	6	156	564

[A] ASTON. The village and manor of Aston was an ancient demesne of the Saxon kings. Henry VIII. granted the manor to Sir John Boteler, of Walton Wood Hall; but the house now standing at Aston Place, indicates earlier antiquity than the time of that sovereign. Westward of the village, The six hills. on the eastern side of the great North road, are six large barrows, thought to be of Danish origin; from their immediate proximity to the road-side they excite the curiosity and attention of most persons travelling northward: two of them have been opened, but were not found to contain any thing of sufficient interest to be here recorded.

[B] ASTON is in the Birmingham division of the Hundred of Hemlingford. It may be deemed a part of Birmingham, being inhabited chiefly by Part of Birmingham. artisans in the various branches of manufacture for which that town is distinguished. Aston Hall, the seat of Heneage Legge, Esq., was first erected by Sir Thomas Holt, Bart. in the reign of James I. It was several times plundered during the troubles of his successor, who was entertained here for two nights a short time before the battle of Edgehill, which occurred on October 23, 1642, between the Royalists and the Parliamentary forces. Sir T. Holt endowed an alms-house for five poor men and women in this parish.

[C] ASTON, is a parish and township with Aughton, in the wapentake of Strafforth and Tickhill. In the church, which is dedicated to All Saints, is an ancient monument, under which lie buried Lord D'Arcy and his three wives. There is also a marble slab to the memory of the poet The poet Mason's monument. Mason, who was rector of this parish. This distinguished poet was the son of a clergyman in Yorkshire, in which county he was born in the year 1725. He became a student of St. John's College, Cambridge, and subsequently a fellow of Pembroke Hall, in the same university. His debut in the literary world was made by the publication of "Isis," a poem, in which he satirized the Jacobitish and High Church principles of the University of Oxford. A reply was written by Thomas Warton, entitled "The Triumph of Isis." In 1752 he published a tragedy with choral odes on the ancient Greek model, called "Elfrida." Having taken orders in the church, he was presented with the living of Aston, and appointed one of the royal chaplains. In 1759 appeared his "Caractacus," a drama on a kindred plan with the former. Both of these pieces were afterwards introduced on the stage, they however met with very little success. In 1762, Mr. Mason was made precentor of York, to which preferment a canonry was annexed. One of his principal works, entitled "The English Garden," a poem, in four books, appeared in the years 1772, 1777, 1779, and 1781. 4to.; this was translated into French and German. In 1775 he published the exquisite poems of his friend Gray, with a Memoir of his Life. At the beginning of the American War, Mr. Mason became An advocate for freedom dismissed from his chaplainship. so active an advocate for freedom, as to give offence at court, and he was in consequence dismissed from his chaplainship. It is said he felt alarmed at the frightful consequences of the French Revolution, and his zeal cooled towards the latter end of his life. He died April 7, 1797.

Map	Names of Places		County	Number of Miles From						Dist. Lond.	Popul ation.
5	Aston-Abbots	pa	Bucks	Aylesbury	5	Winslow	7	Leighton	6	40	303
15	Aston-Blank	pa	Gloucester	Northleach	4	Stow	5	Winchcomb	11	86	295
33	Aston-Botterill	pa	Salop	Bridgenorth	9	Cleobury	7	Ludlow	9	143	260
39	Aston-Cantlow	pa	Warwick	Alcester	4	Henley	4	Stratford	6	99	940
5	Aston-Clinton[A]	to & pa	Bucks	Tring	4	Ivinghoe	5	Aylesbury	4	35	1001
33	Aston-Eyre	to	Salop	Bridgenorth	3	M. Wenlock	5	Madeley	7	143	63
23	Aston-Flamville	to & p	Leicester	Hinckley	3	Lutterworth	8	Leicester	13	97	1703
7	Aston-Grange	to	Chester	Frodsham	4	Northwich	7	Warrington	8	181	36
17	Aston-Ingham	pa	Hereford	Ross	6	Ledbury	10	Newent	3	120	591
28	Aston on the Walls,	to & pa	Northamp	Banbury	8	Daventry	9	Towcester	11	71	240
42	Aston-Magna	ham	Worcester	Moreton	3	Shipston	6	Broadway	4	89	254
31	Aston-Middle	to & pa	Oxford	Deddington	3	Woodstock	8	Bicester	9	64	121
7	Aston-Mondrum	to	Chester	Nantwich	4	Tarporley	8	Middlewich	7	168	159
31	Aston-North	pa	Oxford	Deddington	2	Bicester	9	Woodstock	9	64	305
31	Aston-Rowant	pa	Oxford	Tetsworth	4	Thame	4	Watlington	4	39	946
5	Aston-Sandford	pa	Bucks	Thame	4	Aylesbury	6	P. Risboro'	5	42	82
15	Aston-Somerville	pa	Gloucester	Evesham	4	Broadway	4	Winchcombe	7	98	103
31	Aston-Steeple[B]	to & pa	Oxford	Deddington	4	Woodstock	7	Bicester	9	64	562
15	Aston-Subege	pa	Gloucester	Campden	2	Evesham	6	Broadway	4	92	103
4	Aston-Tirrold	pa	Berks	Wallingford	6	E. Illsley	6	Streatley	5	50	343
15	Aston-upon-Carron	pa and ti	Gloucester	Tewkesbury	2	Cheltenham	9	Evesham	10	104	166
10	Aston-upon-Trent	pa	Derby	Derby	6	Ashby	10	Loughboro	11	121	620
4	Aston-Upthorpe	ham	Berks	Wallingford	6	Wantage	9	Abingdon	8	52	172
28	Astrope, or Asthorpe[C]	ham	Northamp	Brackley	6	Banbury	4	Deddington	5	69	...
28	Astwell[D]	ham	Northamp	...	6	Towcester	5	Daventry	13	64	118

[A] ASTON CLINTON is in the first division of Aylesbury hundred. The manor was the property of the late Lord Lake, who died in 1808, during the trial of General Whitelock, who was cashiered for his misconduct at Buenos Ayres at the commencement of that year. At St. Leonard's, a hamlet of this parish, about four miles from Aston church, is an ancient chapel, said to have been a chantry chapel to the Abbey of Missenden. It Monument of one of Queen Anne's officers. contains, among other monuments, that of General Cornelius Wood, an officer who distinguished himself in the reign of Queen Anne, and who died in 1712. It is ornamented with a bust of the general in white marble, surrounded with military trophies. This chapel is endowed with an estate, vested in ten trustees, who have the appointment of the minister.

[B] STEEPLE ASTON. At this village, Dr. Samuel Radcliffe, principal of Brazennose College, Oxford, and rector of this church, founded a free Dr. Samuel Radcliffe. school in 1640, and endowed it with ten pounds per annum; he died in the year 1648, and is buried in the church. He also endowed an alms-house for poor women in this parish. A tessalated pavement was ploughed up here in the 17th century.

[C] ASTROPE. This hamlet is in the parish of King's Sutton. The village is worthy of remark, from the church having a tower crowned with a handsome and lofty spire, decorated with crocketed pinnacles. Here is a remarkably fine mineral spring, called St. Rumbald's Well, which A mineral spring famous for curing consumption, jaundice, &c. was formerly in considerable repute. When drank at the fountain head, the water is considered a specific in cases of female obstructions, and in the first and second stages of consumptions. In the jaundice it seldom fails; and in dropsical cases is frequently administered with success. Persons whose constitutions have been weakened by free living, find themselves renovated by its virtues. The water has a brisk pleasant taste, and is very clear and spirituous. Astrope Hall was formerly the residence of the Lord Chief Justice Willes.