CHURCH.
A church was built in Aston in 1838
on land given by Henry Hippisley, the cost met
from subscriptions and from funds invested
by C. L. Kerby, vicar of Bampton, and his
predecessor George Richards, who reportedly
initiated the scheme. In 1839 it was consecrated
as a chapel of ease with its own burial ground, (fn. 20)
and in 1857, under Order in Council of 1845, it
became the parish church for Bampton Aston,
serving Aston, Cote, and the parochial chapelry
of Shifford. In 1976 it became part of the united
benefice of Bampton with Clanfield. The advowson was vested in 1857 in the dean and chapter
of Exeter, who remained joint patrons of the
united benefice in 1990. (fn. 21) The endowment comprised tithe rents from Aston and Cote, Shifford,
and Brighthampton, and one eighth of a Haddon
corn rent formerly assigned to the vicars of
Bampton; income in 1866 was reportedly c. £800
a year, but in 1899 gross income was only c. £560
and net income c. £400. (fn. 22)
Bampton's east vicarage house was at first
assigned to the new living, but c. 1858 a new
vicarage house was built in Aston south of High
Street on land acquired from the Hippisleys,
some of whose tithe rents were waived in return;
the cost was met by mortgage and by temporary
diversion of £60 from the Haddon corn rent. (fn. 23)
The house, a large two-storeyed building of
stone and slate with hoodmoulds over some of
the windows, continued as a vicarage until 1963
and was demolished c. I968; (fn. 24) the east vicarage
house in Bampton was sold in 1866. (fn. 25)
Until 1857 the church was served by vicars of
Bampton or their curates. There was a single
morning or afternoon service, and the number
of communicants was 'small'. (fn. 26) Thereafter
Ralph Barnes (d. 1884), non-resident east vicar
of Bampton, became sole vicar of Bampton
Aston, installing curates who lived in the new
vicarage house. George Sandham Griffith, curate 1858-74, who mostly served the parish alone
and was for a time curate of Yelford also,
complained that he had inadequate time for
catechizing or for holding as many services as
desired: throughout the later 19th century there
were usually two Sunday services at Aston, the
second held alternately in the afternoon or evening to allow time for a service at Shifford.
Among his chief difficulties was long-established
Baptist Dissent, though of an estimated half to
two-thirds of the population who were habitual
non-attenders only 50 per cent were thought to
be Baptists. Other problems were the indifference and, in 1866, outright hostility of the
absentee lord Henry Hippisley, though
Griffith's disciplinarian and rather puritanical
approach possibly did little to promote local
harmony. In 1863 he quarrelled with his assistant at Shifford, whom the bishop accused of
fomenting opposition to Griffith, and in 1866 the
churchwardens refused to act following disagreements over a local charity. (fn. 27) Under A. T.
C. Cowie (1884-1900), the first resident vicar,
church attendance increased, and in the 1890s
remained steady despite falling population; improvements were made to the church, and in
1890 Cowie claimed that his chief problem was
past neglect, combined with non-resident landlords, poor housing, and low wages. (fn. 28) Vicars
resided until the early 1960s, after which the
benefice was held in plurality with Bampton
Proper, and most vicars remained at Aston for
ten years or more. (fn. 29)
The church of ST. JAMES, (fn. 30) designed by
Thomas Greenshields of Oxford (fn. 31) in plain 13thcentury style, is of stone with a concrete-tiled
roof; it comprises chancel, nave with north and
south transepts, and a west tower to which a
steeple was added in 1860, the cost met partly
from a bequest of William Monk (d. 1848). (fn. 32)
Restorations were carried out reportedly by
Joseph Clarke in 1862, (fn. 33) and by H. G. W.
Drinkwater between 1885 and 1889, when the
chancel was remodelled and refitted, a new altar,
lectern, and seating were provided, and the
octagonal stone font, given by the Revd. John
Nelson in 1839, was moved to a 'more suitable'
position. Plans to enlarge the chancel and add a
new south vestry seem to have been abandoned. (fn. 34) The original Stonesfield- slated roofs,
of poor quality, were replaced in 1962. (fn. 35) A 'new'
organ bought in 1870 was replaced in 1896; that
was electrified in 1949, (fn. 36) and stood in 1992 at the
angle of the chancel and north transept, the
latter used then, as in 1848, (fn. 37) as a vestry. The
hexagonal oak pulpit and other fittings are 19thcentury. Commemorative stained glass in the
east window was given in 1948, when the altar
was lowered and a reredos removed; more commemorative glass was given in 1955, and new
windows with coloured medallions were inserted
in 1969. Electric lighting was introduced in
1949. (fn. 38) The ring of 6 bells, acquired partly from
Monk's bequest, is of 1883, by J. Taylor of
Loughborough, and the plate includes 4 pieces
of silver donated by Henry Hippisley in 1839. (fn. 39)
The churchyard was extended northwards in
1939. (fn. 40)