| Aston Abbotts | |
|---|---|
 St James the Great Parish Church | |
  Aston Abbotts Location withinBuckinghamshire | |
| Population | 426 (2021, including Burston)[citation needed] |
| OS grid reference | SP8420 |
| Civil parish |
|
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | AYLESBURY |
| Postcode district | HP22 |
| Dialling code | 01296 |
| Police | Thames Valley |
| Fire | Buckinghamshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Aston Abbotts |
| |
Aston Abbotts orAston Abbots is a village andcivil parish inBuckinghamshire, England. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) north ofAylesbury and 2.5 miles (4 km) south-west ofWing. The parish includes thehamlet of Burston and had a population of 426 at the2021 Census.
"Aston" is a commontoponym in England, derived from theOld English for "eastern estate".[2] The suffix "Abbotts" refers to the formerabbey in the village, which until theDissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century was the country home of the abbots ofSt Albans inHertfordshire. The present house calledThe Abbey, Aston Abbotts was largely built in the late 18th century and altered in the early 19th century.[3]
TheChurch of England parish church ofSt James the Great has a late 15th or early 16th centuryPerpendicular Gothic[4] west tower, but the rest of the building was demolished in 1865 and replaced with a newnave andchancel designed by theOxford Diocesan ArchitectG.E. Street and completed in 1866.[5] The church is aGrade II* listed building.[5]
The church tower has aring of six bells. Anthony Chandler ofDrayton Parslow[6] cast the third and fifth bells in theCommonwealth period in 1652.[7] Edward Hall, also of Drayton Parslow,[6] cast the fourth bell in 1739 and the tenor in 1740.[7]John Taylor & Co ofLoughborough[6] cast the treble and second bells in 1929.[7]
The polar explorer SirJames Clark Ross is buried in the churchyard of St James the Great.
In the Second World War from 1940 to 1945 DrEdvard Beneš, the exiled President ofCzechoslovakia, stayed at The Abbey in Aston Abbotts.[8][9] His advisers and secretaries (called his Chancellery) stayed in nearbyWingrave, and his military intelligence staff stayed at nearbyAddington. President Beneš gave a bus shelter to the villages of Aston Abbotts and Wingrave in 1944. It is on theA418 road between the two villages.[10]
The village had twopublic houses: "The Bull & Butcher", which closed for conversion to flats in 2003, and the "Royal Oak", which is closed and undergoing change since Covid lockdown in 2019.[11] Aston Abbotts had avillage shop, but this closed in 2005.[11]
The nearest shop, post office and school are 1 mile east of Aston Abbotts in the village of Wingrave, with Wingrave offering a Church of England First and Middle school. The nearest secondary school and doctors surgery are 2 miles north east of Aston Abbotts in the village of Wing.
There are regular bus services to Aston Abbotts from Aylesbury and Leighton Buzzard.
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