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Aston is a village in West Oxfordshire, situated to the north of the upper
Thames and four miles to the south of Witney. Cote is a hamlet about one mile to
the east of Aston, and nowadays their names are invariably linked together.
The surrounding countryside is very flat with large open fields. Many elm trees
died from Dutch elm disease some years ago but plantings of other species have
been carried out. Aston is built round the Square, which is in fact a triangle,
in the centre of which is the war memorial. Present day Aston and Cote have
experienced many reforms during the 20th century. Gas was piped from the
diminutive works in Bampton (a mile and a half away) long before electricity
arrived but people were still using wells for water until after the Second World
War.
In 1890 Kellys Oxford Directory listed the following occupations that were
based in the village farmers, masons, brick makers, shoe-makers, blacksmith,
wheelwrights, baker, carrier, grocers and general dealers. The farm wagons built
by Longs of Aston were considered to be some of the best in the land, and the
works were situated behind the post office. Incidentally, the Long family are
still active in the village. Destitute young females who were housed by a
charity in the present Westfield House, which is now a nursery school, ran In
Back Lane a laundry. The site of the old laundry is now used for small
businesses, which provides some employment but Aston and Cote is mainly a
farming area.
Cote consists mainly of farms, most of which have been turned into private
dwellings. The Baptist chapel, registered in 1703, stands starkly surrounded by
its tomb-filled churchyard the plain exterior is contrasted by a unique
interior of box pews and galleries. Cote House overlooks the fields to the
southwest. This stone manor house was built in the reign of James I but
incorporates an older wing. One modern addition to the hamlet are the hatcheries
where thousands of day-old chicks are raised and exported to all corners of the
world.
Lots of changes have occurred in Aston and Cote over the years, with houses and
cottages demolished, new estates built, shops closed or changed hands, but the
village is still thriving with its two churches St James parish church and
Cote Baptist church, the school, post office, general stores and lots of
organisations from Brownies to a day centre for the elderly.
Although Aston was mentioned in the Giles History of Bampton as a humble and
primeval looking place with nothing of interest to attract the notice of the
traveller, it certainly is not so today. Both Aston and Cote are in the words
of the estate agents most attractive and desirable places in which to reside.
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