In 1850, ASTON-BY-BUDWORTH, is a chapelry, township and small village, 4 miles N.E. by N. from Northwich, which contains 2859A. 2r. 26p. of land, and in 1841 had 71 houses and 405 inhabitants; population in 1801, 396; in 1831, 409. Rateable value £3778.
The manor of Aston juxta Budworth has passed with Budworth to R.R.E Warburton Esq., who is also the principal landowner in the township, Lord de Tabley is also a proprietor. ARLEY has been the seat of the Warburtons ever since the reign of HenryVII, when Peter Warburton, Esq., built Arley Hall, and removed thither the family residence from Warburton. Sir John Warburton, his son, was one of the knights of the body to king Henry VII; George, the great-grandson of Sir Jno. Warburton above mentioned, was created a Baronet in 1660, Arley Hall, the original residence of the Warburtons, was built by Piers Warburton, who died in 1495.
The present mansion is a noble structure, in the Elizabethan style, built in 1755; it is of brick with stone finishings, forming a quadrangle, the interior of which is laid out as a flower garden; the east front was built in 1834, and the south front, which forms the principle entrance, in 1841. It is approached by a lofty portico of free stone, elaborately carved, and surmounted with a dome, in the interior of which is a scroll in stone work, with the words "This gate is free to all good men, and true. Right welcome thou, if worthy to pass through."
The east front opens on a beautiful terrace, tastefully laid out with flower beds, and is ornamented with a fine specimen of the ever green oak. The mansion is surrounded by a fine park of 300 acres, which is beautifully wood. There was a park here, well stocked with deer before 1449. The Domestic Chapel, contiguous to the mansion was rebuilt in 1845, near the site of a former chapel; it is a beautiful little structure, in the pointed style, built of the Runcorn free stone, in which the tenants on the estate usually worship. The Rev. Frederick Kenney, M.A., is the minister. The vicarial tithes are commuted for £33, and the rectorial for £165.
The manor of Heild in this township, became the property of Sir Nicholas Leycester in the reign of Edward I; in 1355 it was sold to the family of Heild, and having devolved to co-heiressess of that family, was repurchased by the Leycesters, and is now the property of their representative, Lord de Tabley. The Hall at Heild, an ancient seat of the Leycester family, is now a farm house.
Wethall, another manor in this township, was a residence of a branch of the Leycester family for some time. A farm called Gravestones, was formerly the residence of the Vernons; Jonathan Vernon, who died in 1692, and his wife Sarah, are interred in the garden.
Arley Green, about 5 miles from Northwich, consists of a few neat cottages, a residence for the clergyman, and an antique building now converted into a school, which is supported by the liberality of the lord of the manor, who also gives his sanction, and pecuniary assistance to provide amusement with instruction; and May-Day is one of the festivals set apart for the special purpose of keeping in rememberance one of the happiest anniversaries of festivity known to our forefathers.
After divine worship in the chapel at nine o'clock in the morning, the children and congregation assemble on the green (always kept in the nicest order) and decorate the May-Pole, which is then raised amidst the joyeous shouts of the assembled throng. The Queen of May then marches in procession round the green, the Act, so to speak, of dedicating the ground on which her festival is about to be held; Her Majesty of Flowers then takes her station at the pole, when the violin throws out its heel-stirring sound and the villagers trip it merrily "Round the Bonny May Queen".
CHARITIES:-
Dorothy Glover, in 1869, gave £600, and directed the interest of £100, to be paid to the vicar of Budworth, on condition that he should preach a sermon yearly, on the subject of "Death". The interest of a like sum to be paid to the schoolmaster at Budworth, and the interest of the residue, £400, to be distributed among poor housekeepers in Aston. £100 of this bequest was lost, in 1834, by William Ormson, who took the benefit of the insolvant Act.
The sum of £4 10s. yearly, is paid by Mr Warburton, as the interest of £100 supposed to have been left by Thomas Anderton, and Mr Gleave; and £2, as the interest of Lawrence's gift. The interest is distributed in money and clothing about Christmas. |
