A PICTURESQUE and traditionally English village which prides itself on its sense of community, Wheaton Aston is part of the parish which includes Lapley and Stretton set in beautiful rural surroundings.

Situated to the north part of South Staffordshire, Lapley is mentioned in the Domesday book of 1086 and it is thought likely that Wheaton Aston was in existence at the time the book was compiled.

It is known that there has been a church on the current site in the centre of the village since the 14th century.

The Church, which was dedicated to St Mary, was replaced with the present building in 1857 which was built in an early English style from local sandstone and features beautiful medieval style windows. The church was extended in 1894 and is now a grade II listed building. The original wooden church was one of the few buildings to survive the great fire of 1777, which was one of the first major events to be recorded in the village, when 19 thatched houses and several outbuildings were destroyed.

The spread of the fire was blamed on the thatch and from that time onwards there has never been another thatched house in the village, despite the fact that Wheaton Aston was traditionally known for the quality of its hay and wheat.

By 1666 there were 13 households in Lapley which were chargeable for payment of the hearth tax, with Lapley House being the largest of these with 14 hearths. Wheaton Aston itself was a much larger place with 53 households chargeable for the hearth tax.

Education was available early on in Wheaton Aston through the provision in the will of Thomas Scutt in 1702 for a schoolmaster to teach all poor children and scholars in the parish. This free school was the origin of Wheaton Aston Voluntary Primary School, which came later.

Nonconformity had arrived in Wheaton Aston by the early 1800s after the village was visited by Evangelists who held open air services. Then, in 1814, a chapel was built to accommodate people attending the services during bad weather.

The village is also one of the few places in the country where the very pretty but very rare Snake’s Head Fritillary, known locally as Folfallarum, grows wild with the village also being the most northerly place it grows. When the plant grew prolifically, it became an annual event for the villagers to pick the flowers on the first Sunday in May. Now the flower grows undisturbed in Mottey Meadows which is in the care of English Nature.

Mottey Meadows is a National Nature Reserve which supports over 240 species of flowering plants. The hay meadows come into their own through June and early July providing a spectacular rural sight. A wild flower walk there is also recommended through June and July and there are leaflets and signs available at the site to provide visitors with information.

By 1968 the M6 was completed to J12 on the A5 which brought Birmingham and the West Midlands to within a 30-minute commuting distance. From that point until the mid 1980s, major house building projects also took place in the village which significantly increased the number of people living there from 1,475 in 1971 to 2,235 in 1984.

The population of Wheaton Aston still amounts to several thousand and it has good transport links which make it an ideal place to live for those commuting to cities around the Midlands as well as towns such as Stafford, Cannock, Telford and Shrewsbury. Residents can enjoy the best of both worlds with the rural pace of the large village at home, while still being able to find a variety of work in a number of areas.

The easy accessibility of the village also means its annual music event, The Wheaton Aston Festival, is extremely popular. Run for the past nine years the festival brings together an eclectic mix of performers for a small, but warm and friendly festival which takes place throughout the village offering a variety of activities as well as concerts at three different venues, including workshops, street theatre, children’s activities, craft fair and art trail.

Although this year’s festival was cancelled, the organisers are determined to be back — bigger and better than ever — for 2010.

Visitors to Wheaton Aston will also find a variety of amenities. These include a number of pubs which provide a range of activities as well as a number of social clubs and activities to suit all ages and tastes. There is also a Garage, Newsagents, Post Office, Spar Supermarket, Hairdressers and a Doctors Surgery.

There are also a number of nearby attractions including Boscobel House, the Royal Airforce Museum at Cosford and Weston Park which holds different events throughout the year.