England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Aston by Sutton St Peter

The Parish

The chapelry of Aston by Sutton, its mother parish being Runcorn, lies in northern Cheshire roughly 5 miles southeast of Runcorn itself. Aston stands just over 1 1/2 miles southwest of the A533 road which links Runcorn with Northwich whilst Sutton sits about 2 miles northwest of Aston almost on the banks of the River Weaver. Aston was an estate village supporting the grounds of Aston Hall, the now demolished 17th century mansion stands in landscaped parkland, designed by Repton, and extends from the main lane through the chapelry almost to the Weaver. The primary economic driver for the chapelry would have been pastoral farming, early gazetteers estimate almost 2/3rds of the chapelry's acreage as set to pasture. Modern developments have come in abundance to the area, the Weaver's course was first straightened to become the Weaver Navigation and connects the wider canal network with the Mersey Estuary, the railway line between Runcorn and Northwich followed while finally the modern M56 motorway carves its way between Aaton and Runcorn en route between Chester and the M6. The Weaver drains the chapelry northwestwards soon reaching the Mersey Estuary to pass between Liverpool and Birkenhead to the Irish Sea. Aston is sited at around 50 metres above the sea with Sutton some 10 metres lower, across the Weaver and south of Frodsham the Cheshire Sandstone Ridge rises to over 150 metres in places as a noticeable ridge. Around 3,000 acres of Runcorn parish was assigned to the chapelry which would have supported a population of close to 500 parishioners of whom only 200 were residents of Aaton village. In Domesday times Aston was merely a 2 plough settlement held by one William Malbank with only a league of woodland as further assets.

The Church

St Peter's church stands on the southern side of the lane connecting Aston with Runcorn at the entrance of the former estate of Aston Hall. Like the landscaping of the Hall's grounds the creation of today's church was at the behest of the resident of the Hall, Sir Willoughby Aston. The village's medieval church sat elsewhere and on this site there was a 17th century replacement which was removed to construct today's church. Begun in 1697 with the chancel it took until 1740 for the nave to be completed just prior to the start of this transcript period. The contrast between the Georgian Gothic of the nave and the earlier chancel is marked. The nave is topped off with an open octagonal bell-cupola. Despite the relatively late build there has been time for modification as the church was refurbished in 1857, the church also needed restoration in 1949 following World War II bomb damage. A broad triangular parking area sits outside the churchyard gates allowing a relaxed visit, other than a single prominent tree standing south of the eastern end there are no obstructions to concern the photographer.