There is a large area of farmland on the river bank, which is sometimes flooded due to the high tidal range of the Severn.

[4][5][nb 1] "Augustin endeavoured to persuade the Welsh clergy to join him in preaching the Gospel to the Teutonic invaders, and held a meeting with them at or near Aust, on the Severn.

But they refused to acknowledge his authority, or even to hold communion with him, and would not give up their peculiar usages with respect to the date of Easter and the administration of Baptism" ("The English Church in the Middle Ages" by William Hunt) The name of Aust is recorded in 793 or 794 as Austan (terram aet Austan v manentes) when it was returned to the Church of Worcester after having been taken by King Offa's earl, Bynna.

The timber roofs and octagonal stone font date from the 15th century, and the western church tower, with an embattled parapet, was probably rebuilt in the Tudor period.

[11] The estate at Aust was held from the Bishop of Worcester as part of the extensive feudal barony of Turstin FitzRolf who had acted as standard-bearer to William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

[8] FitzRolf's properties in Gloucestershire were held in capite,[12] including Aust, reverted to the Crown and then were granted to Wynebald de Ballon from Maine.

[11] The service area was listed as the last-known (February 1995) whereabouts of former Manic Street Preachers band member Richey Edwards, officially presumed deceased since 2008.

The growth of road traffic led to the re-establishment of a ferry between Aust and Beachley in 1926, carrying no more than 17 vehicles each time.

Bob Dylan was photographed in 1966 standing outside the ferry ticket office, with the almost-completed Severn Bridge behind; the photo was used to publicise Martin Scorsese's film No Direction Home.