History of Aston

During the Old English period, as the population in a village grew then some folk left to make clearings in forests, woods and heathland and start new settlements. Aston was one such place. In the Doomsday Book of 1086 it was recorded as Estone, meaning the east farmstead, village, manor or estate. It is debatable as to which main settlement Aston was to the east of. There is little likelihood that it was Birmingham for that manor was to the south and anyway was smaller than Aston in that period.
In his history of Aston, J. Newton Friend felt that the manor was east of Wednesbury which he felt had been a major Old English fortified stronghold (burh) during was so called because it was east of theIcknield Street (also known as the Ryknield Street) - the Roman road which ran through Birmingham and Sutton Coldfield (see Stirchley).
Old map of Aston

In 1066, Aston was one of the many manors held by Earl Edwin. He did not fight at the battle of Hastings and was allowed to keep his lands by the victorious William the Conqueror. These possessions were lost when Edwin fled England in 1071 after becoming associated with Anglo- Saxon rebellions. Eighteen years later, the Domesday Book recorded that Aston was held by Godmund, a Saxon, from William FitzAnsculf, a great lord based at Dudley who in addition controlled the manors of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Erdington, Witton, Handsworth, Perry and Little Barr.
In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries his successors were also overlords of the manors of Bordesley, Little Bromwich, Saltley, Nechells and Duddeston. Like other powerful lords, William held his land from the king in return for military service. Similarly, this feudal system meant that Godmund owed William military service. The Domesday Book indicated that Aston had a church, a mill, a wood which was three miles long and half a mile broad, and eight hides. A hide was an area which could support a family and its dependants and varied in size between 60 and 120
Aston Park Gates
acres. The population was made up of 30 villeins, twelve bordars and one serf - and their families. The term villein was introduced by the Normans and it referred to someone who held a virgate of land, between 25 and 30 acres, which was scattered between the open fields of a manor. Villeins were able to support themselves but had to work on the lord's demesne (his home farm), pay rent for their and, and serve the lord in other ways. Bordars were smallholders who farmed plots which had been cleared from woodland and wasteland and which usually were on the edge of a manor. With less land they found it hard to be self supporting. Both bordars and villeins were unfree peasants but unlike serfs, they had houses and some land. The manor itself was worth one hundred shillings and had a population of about 200. This was about five times as many people as Birmingham which did not boast either a mill or a church and was valued at only twenty shillings.