History
In 1009 Æþelræd Unræd (King Ethelred the Unready) signed a charter at the Great Council which recognised the position and boundaries of Westune. The land described in that charter included the lands now known as Shardlow, Great Wilne, Church Wilne, Crich, Smalley, Morley, Weston and Aston on Trent. Under this charter Æþelræd gave his minister, Morcar, a number of rights that made him free from tax and enabled his own rule within the manor.
This manor came under the control of the King again following Morcar being murdered in 1015 and the lands were later given to Ælfgar, the Earl of Mercia, but he lost this at the Norman Conquest. Aston is in the Domesday book where it is mentioned as an outlying farm of Weston-on-Trent and listed amongst the lands given to Henry de Ferrers by the King. The land given to Henry included 5 acres (20,000 m2) of land that was valued at eight shillings.
The name is of Anglo-Saxon descent ('ton' an Anglo-Saxon suffix meaning farm). Being in the east, the name literally means 'East Farm'. The 'On-Trent' suffix of both Aston and nearby villages simply means they are near the river Trent.
Shardlow and Great Wilne were included in the parish of Aston-on-Trent until 1838, when Shardlow constructed its own church.
Read more about this topic: Aston-on-Trent
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