Church of SS Peter & Paul, Aston

During the period of the Heptarchy, Aston was part of the Kingdom of Mercia, and documentary evidence from this period is scarce. The church was probably founded in the 9th century. The original building would have been wooden, and this was recorded in Domesday Book. The parish was extremely large. There were chapels of ease in Yardley, Water Orton and Castle Bromwich. It would have been impossible for these to be serviced by one priest, and it is likely that SS Peter & Paul was a minster church. The first masonry structure was completed in 1120. It was the second largest church in the West Midlands (the original Coventry Cathedral being larger). There was a major reordering in 1480. The…