The name was recorded as Essetone (which was first documented in the Domesday Book) in 1039, suggesting Old English ǣsc "ash tree" (as in Ashton and Ashton-in-Makerfield), although this is not certain.

[citation needed] At the eastern end of the village is Grade II* listed Aston Hall which was a large country house, afterwards a hospital, and at one time known as Aughton Court before becoming a hotel and restaurant.

that the surrounding housing estate now occupies land that formed the traditional hunting grounds attached to the hall.

[citation needed] Adjacent to Aston Hall is the oldest surviving structure in the village, the Grade I listed Church of All Saints.

[6][7] To the north of these on Aughton Lane is the William Layne Reading Room, a building that was formally Aston Old School, founded in 1738, next to which stands a war memorial erected in 2011.