Aston: Guide, Hotels, Map & Photos
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GBP 85 - 199 Aston Hall Hotel
 Surrounded by 55 acres of breathtaking woodland, this 18th century property has been sensitively renovated and now combines stylish contemporary desig… More | ||||||
Aston: Guide
This article is about the district of Aston in Birmingham, England. For other places called Aston and other uses, see Aston (disambiguation).
Aston is an area of Birmingham, England, in the north-east of the Chamberlain Square|city centre. It is also a ward (politics)|ward within the Government of Birmingham, England#Districts|formal district of Ladywood.
History
Aston was first mentioned in the Domesday Book in 1086 as "Estone", having a mill, a priest and therefore probably a church, woodland and ploughland. The church of St. Peter & Paul was built in medieval times to replace an earlier church. The body of the church was rebuilt by J. A. Chatwin during the period 1879 to 1890; the 15th century tower and spire, which was partly rebuilt in 1776, being the only survivors of the medieval building.
The ancient parish of Aston (known as Aston juxta Birmingham) was large. It was partly included in the borough of Birmingham in 1838, and a further part, Saltley was added in 1891. An Aston Manor urban sanitary district was formed in part of the parish. In 1894, under the Local Government Act 1894, the parish was split up, with Castle Bromwich, Erdington and Water Orton becoming separate parishes, as did Aston Manor. The Aston parish now was entirely within Birmingham. Aston Manor was granted the status of municipal borough in 1903, and was then annexed to Birmingham in 1911, along with Erdington. Castle Bromwich and Water Orton remain outside Birmingham's city limits to this day.
Besides the church and Aston Hall, Aston village consisted of few houses, taverns, farms, a mill and Aston Furnace. The Holte almshouses completed in 1656 and a fine Georgian rectory which were demolished despite objections when Aston Expressway was constructed.
The Grand Junction Railway was built in 1837 and although there was no station at Aston until 1854, the area was opened up to the rail network. A branch from Aston railway station|Aston to Sutton Coldfield and Lichfield was opened later, this was the Birmingham Cross-City Line.
Old buildings which became popular within Aston included the Aston Hippodrome and the Bartons Arms public house.
Politics
The Aston ward can be characterised as 'inner-city', with a large ethnic minority population and high rates of deprivation.
The 2004 Council Election was marred by vote rigging by the Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party candidates who were subsequently removed from the Council. In a subsequent by-election, all three council seats were gained from Labour by Liberal Democrats|Liberal Democrat candidates. In 2006 Labour recovered one of the three seats it lost as a result of the affair and one of the remaining Liberal Democrat councillors, Abdul Aziz, defected to the Respect - The Unity Coalition|Respect Party. Aston is therefore now represented by one Labour, one Liberal Democrat, and one Respect councillor.
Features
Aston Expressway
Aston Hall
Aston University
Aston Villa F.C.|Aston Villa Football Club
HP Sauce
Gravelly Hill Interchange|Spaghetti Junction
Norton (motorcycle)|Former Norton motorcycle factory
Famous residents
Albert W Ketelbey
Arthur Conan Doyle
Black Sabbath
Jamelia
Ozzy Osbourne
Trivia
AB Row
Location of the famous 'Venus Baby' case of Cynthia Appleton (87 Fentham Road) in the late 1950's.
This "Travel Guide" section is drawn from the Wikipedia article "Aston". We hope you will edit and improve it. It is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See also
Witton
Aston Broadcast SystemsExternal links