Aston Clinton

Aston Clinton is a village and civil parish close to the main A41 road in Buckinghamshire, England between Tring and Aylesbury. The parish covers 3809 acre and is about 4 mi east of Aylesbury. The village is at the foot of the chalk escarpment of the Chiltern Hills at the junction of the pre-historic track the Icknield Way with Akeman Street Roman road. It is bisected both at the northern end of the parish by the Aylesbury Arm and in the centre of the parish by the Wendover Arm of the Grand Union Canal.

Early history
It is believed that the village started at the crossing of two Roman roads, Akeman Street and Icknield Way, both of which are still main roads in the village. After the fall of the Roman Empire, it became a Saxon settlement and remains of a Saxon cemetery were found during the construction of the Aston Clinton Bypass.

Before the Norman conquest of England in 1066 the settlement was held by Wlwen probably under patronage of King Edward the Confessor. The village is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 where in Old English it was called Estone, which means "eastern estate".

The manor, later to be known as Aston Clinton, was for a short period after 1100 under the control of Edward de Salisbury, who was King Henry I’s standard-bearer. In 1217 King Henry III gave it to Sir William de Farendon. However by 1237 the manor was owned by the de Clinton family, hence the name at that time of Aston de Clinton. William de Clinton separated out from Aston Clinton a new manor called Chivery as a dowry for his daughter Alice. Sometime after 1239, King Edward I granted the estates to the Montacutes, who were the ancestors of the Earls of Salisbury. Their descendant the Countess of Salisbury was beheaded by King Henry VIII in 1541. Successive families owned the manor, passing by marriage from the Hastings to the Barringtons, Gerards, and then to Lord Lake of Aston Clinton later to become Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake.

Aston Clinton today
The modern parish of Aston Clinton was created in 1934. Of the other medieval manors:- Dundridge; Chivery; St Leonards and Vaches, historically all closely associated with Aston Clinton, only Chivery and Vaches have remained distinct parts of Aston Clinton, which now forms part of Aylesbury Vale District. Dundridge manor, became part of the ecclesiastical parish of St Leonards which has itself since 1934 become part of the parish of Cholesbury-cum-St Leonards.

St. Michael and All Angels parish church dates from the 13th and 14th centuries.

The Aston Clinton Bypass opened on 3rd October 2003.

The car manufacturer Aston Martin took one part of its name from the village combining it with that of its co-founder Lionel Martin. It had great success in the hill climb competition up nearby Aston Hill. A plaque now marks the site.

In the centre of the village is the Anthony Hall which was donated to the village by the widow of Anthony Nathan de Rothschild.

Aston Clinton School is a primary school that takes pupils between the ages of 4 and 11. The school has approximately 275 pupils. The school badge includes the five arrows from the Rothschild coat of arms, because the family built the first schools in the village.

The TV programme Hotel Babylon was filmed in Aston Clinton.

Australian Formula One driver Mark Webber lists Aston Clinton as his home in England where he lives with his partner Ann Neal.