Aston: Park History, Art and Canal Heritage

When looking for a hotel in Aston, it can help to first decide what you would like to focus on during your stay. Landscape history, church art, sculpture and canal heritage appeal to different interests. You can consider whether you would rather explore historical periods, a self-guided format or a walk with a stated distance in mind.

Park History and Green Spaces

Aston Park is a remnant of Aston Hall’s 934-acre deer park. The area refers to the former deer park; Aston Park is the surviving part of this larger historic landscape. On Aston University’s city campus, the Green Zone brings together fruit trees, wild gardens and wildlife habitats. The difference also offers a practical way to decide what interests you: are you more interested in the history of a former deer park, or in the combination of trees, gardens and habitats on a campus?

Church and Historical Periods

The Anglican church of SS Peter and Paul has two distinct historical points of reference. Its west tower dates from the 15th century. The church also houses a significant collection of portraits and wall monuments spanning the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The tower marks a single century; the collection spans several centuries. For a cultural history focus, you can therefore choose between a clearly dated architectural feature and a collection with a broader time span.

A Self-Guided Trail

The Aston Heritage and Art Trail is a self-guided route that you can start anywhere and explore at your own pace. This means you choose both the starting point and the pace yourself—a flexible format for planning your stay.

The Aston Old Cross Stones

Sculptor John Maine created the Aston Old Cross Stones between 1975 and 1977. They consist of five Portland stone elements arranged in the shape of a cross. Together, the five elements form the described cross shape; their material and arrangement give a clear impression of the work’s composition. The period in which they were created is much narrower than the time span of the collection at SS Peter and Paul, which spans the Middle Ages to the 19th century. A work created over a three-year period and a collection spanning several centuries thus represent different historical scales.

Canal Heritage at Aston Junction

The 1 km walk to Aston Junction is a walking route for exploring Birmingham’s canal heritage. Aston Junction connects the Digbeth Branch Canal with the Birmingham & Fazeley Canal, giving the route a clearly defined destination. Compared with the Heritage and Art Trail, the two descriptions answer different planning questions: the trail can be started anywhere and explored at your own pace, while the walk has a specific stated length of 1 km. This lets you choose between a flexible starting point and a route with a specified distance.

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