St Peter & St Paul, Aston
St Peter and St Paul, Aston
The parish church of St Peter and St Paul stands on Witton Lane, Aston, between Aston Hall and Villa Park. It is Grade II* listed and lies in the Diocese of Birmingham and the parish of Aston and Nechells. A church on the site is recorded in Domesday Book.
- Location
- Aston, West Midlands
- Country
- England
- County
- West Midlands
- City / town
- Aston
- Address
- Witton Lane, Aston, West Midlands, B6 6QA
- Postcode
- B6 6QA
- Built
- C15 west tower; body rebuilt 1879-1908
- Architect
- J A Chatwin; spire 1776-77 by John Cheshire
- Denomination
- Church of England
- Dedication
- Peter and Paul
- Diocese
- Birmingham
- Parish
- Aston and Nechells
- Grade
- II*
- Style
- Gothic; medieval tower with Victorian nave and chancel
- Materials
- Stone; substantial C15 west tower with later spire
- Grid reference
- SP 082 899
- Opening hours
- All are welcome. Open for two hours before Aston Villa Saturday home games.
- Access
- Accessible toilets nearby. Level access to the main areas
Overview
Historic England designates the church at Grade II* for its impressive fifteenth-century west tower, with an elegant spire added in 1776-77 by John Cheshire, and for the high-quality Gothic rebuilding by J. A. Chatwin of 1879-1908. The chancel and south chapel were complete by 1883, the nave by 1889, and the south porch by 1908, the year after Chatwin's death. Fragments of the medieval church were reused, including a fourteenth-century piscina in the south aisle.
A wide range of monuments from the earlier church was reset along the aisles, in the chancel and in the Erdington Chapel, including memorials to the Holte family of Aston Hall and a tomb associated with Ralph Arden, an ancestor of Shakespeare. Wikipedia gives the spire a height of 198 feet. A glass-framed meeting room was later inserted in the north aisle, and a church centre of 1980 links to the north side.