Origin in The East Midlands
The surname Astle first originated in Mercia, England. In the East Midlands, the name was derived from the Danish name Asketil which in turn derives from the Old Norse words áss meaning a god, and ketil meaning cauldron or kettle. References to the Viking 'Asketil' have been found in 12th century surveys by the Monks of Burton Abbey. They record how in 874, King Asketil and three other kings sacked Repton, then the capital of Mercia, after sailing up the River Trent. (This was during the campaign of King Ceolwulf II and the Great Heathen Army to overthrow King Burgred.) The four kings were allocated lands in a partitioned Mercia corresponding to the modern shires of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester. To this day, the largest grouping of Astle families is still concentrated in a relatively small area of South Derbyshire and East Staffordshire, close to the River Trent.
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Famous quotes containing the words origin, east and/or midlands:
“In the woods in a winter afternoon one will see as readily the origin of the stained glass window, with which Gothic cathedrals are adorned, in the colors of the western sky seen through the bare and crossing branches of the forest.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“My impression about the Panama Canal is that the great revolution it is going to introduce in the trade of the world is in the trade between the east and the west coast of the United States.”
—William Howard Taft (1857–1930)
“Sunday night meant, in the dark, wintry, rainy Midlands ... anywhere where two creatures might stand and squeeze together and spoon.... Spooning was a fine art, whereas kissing and cuddling are calf-processes.”
—D.H. (David Herbert)