BROADWATER HUNDRED 



ASTON 



Hoste O'Brien, who was lord of the manor in 1877." 

 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." 



In 1287 the Abbot 

 of Reading claimed 

 view of frankpledge 

 and free warren in 

 Aston," but in the 

 reign of Edward I 

 he claimed in addi- 

 tion, in all his Hert- 

 fordshire lands, sac 

 and soc, toil and 

 team, infangentheof, 



utfangentheof, 



gallows, tumbrel, and 



chattels of felons and 



fugitives, also freedom 



from suit at the hun- 



The parish church of ST MARY 

 CHURCH THE HRGIN*' 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 eudof the 14-th or the beginning of the 

 1 5 th 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 

 1 6th 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. 



The chancel has a modern east window of three 



, froi 



dred 1 

 payii _ 

 shiregeld and other 

 " ; so doubtless 





ile 



ges 



applied to Aston. 



Certain lands in 

 Aston were granted 

 before 106; by Wulf, 

 'a certain Dane, a 

 very powerful mini- 

 ster' of King Edward the Confessor, to St. Alban's 

 Abbey." After the Dissolution the lands of St. 

 Alban's Abbey in Aston were granted with the manor 

 ofShephall to George Nodes. !S In 1570 they were in 

 the possession of Charles Nodes/ 9 his nephew,' 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." The latter 

 died in 1 592 and was succeeded by his son Thomas," 

 who died in 1 63 5, leaving a son also named Thomas." 



Aston Church from the South- 



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 1 6th-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 

 1 3th century. 



'37- 



