Aston-on-Trent History Walk No.8 - Round Weston

The Aston-on-Trent Local History Group have produced a series of local walks to highlight the heritage of Aston-on-Trent, a cosy village whose records of settlement date all the way back to before the Norman Conquest in the 11th Century, and the surrounding area.

Walk No.8 is predominantly flat, easy walking. Most of the Aston-on-Trent walks use countryside paths at points along the route, so please be mindful of weather and ground conditions when planning a walk.

Below are some of the key points of interest to keep an eye out for:

• Coopers Arms (Weston Hall)
  • This property likely dates back to the late 16th or early 17th Century by Charles Paget but was never completed. He inherited the Manor of Weston in 1563 but was forced into exile for being Roman Catholic and implicated to have been involved in the Babington Plot to assassinate Elizabeth I. During the English Civil War, the hall was occupied by Cromwell’s Roundheads to control crossings over the River Trent.
• St. Mary The Virgin Parish Church
  • A church had stood on this site since the Saxon times, with many Anglo-Saxons converting to Christianity in roughly the 6th Century, and the religion properly arriving to the area in the 7th Century. The location of the church, at such a distance from the village, may be due to wanting to be in close proximity to the river for baptisms. A section of the churchyard is used for burials of the Ukrainian community, who have been present in the village since the end of the Second World War.
• Trent and Mersey Canal and The River Trent
  • Weston Cliff marks the site in which barges carrying gypsum from Aston to Weston would be unloaded, making way for the gypsum to be unloaded into other barges to carry the material to Kings Mills.
• Weston-on-Trent and Aston-on-Trent
  • The two villages share a significant history together, both originally forming parts of the Estate of Weston granted to the Saxon Earl Morkar in 1009 and both have been involved in key parts of British history from the Norman Conquest, to the English Civil War. For more information on the history of the area, please do go and visit the Aston-on-Trent Local History Group and the Archive.

Please visit the Aston-on-Trent Local History Group‘s page for the route directions, as well as more information on key points along the route.

A PDF of the walk can be accessed at the Aston-on-Trent Parish Council‘s website or via the download file button below.