OLD NAMES

Apart from - possibly - 'Tame', there are no known pre-Teutonic names in Aston. But 'Lozells' may have its origin in a prehistoric feature. 'Low-cells' is thought to have been the early form, 'low' being the Old English word for a tumulus (burial mound), and 'cells' (Norman French) possibly referring to stone chambers within it. However, the 'low' may have been a Roman sighting point, later topped by a semaphore. Lozells Farm and Wood, Bartons Wood and Close, are recalled in street-names, as is little Oaks, a small copse in the Park. Sycamore Road is a reminder of the sycamore avenue south from Aston Hall.

Great Pool Road used to cross the drained pool site, but the name is now Grange Road. Many Aston streets tell their own story - thus Sandy and Furnace Lanes; Villa, Village, Bourne, Lodge and Station Roads; Pool, Vine, Wharf, Waterworks, and (Poor Law) Union Streets. Serpentine Road was made beside a great loop of the Tame, since infilled. Chain Walk is a reminder of an Aston industry, while Rifle Crescent refers to Smiths' Gun Works.

There are many forename and surname streets that cannot be attributed, but some are explicable. Yates was a manufacturer, Phillips and Powell were millers, Barton, Potter, and George Barker were farmers. Garibaldi the Italian patriot lost his street to Whitehead, one of the bankers who bought the Aston estate from Abraham Bracebridge, husband of the last Holte heiress: Bevington was a family name of a residual heir. Jardine was a cricketer: Wellesley, Anglesey, Alma, and Inkerman commemorate generals and battles.

Gladstone and Bright were politicians, Pugh was a Local Board Inspectors' Chairman, and Wilkinson is a City Councillor. Several noble families have streets named after them. Victoria and Albert Roads recall the royal visit of 1858. Nursery Row was a terrace of cottages beside an allotment garden. Tower Road led to the clock-tower at Aston Cross. Trinity Road still goes to Trinity Church (1864) on Birchfield Road. It is tempting to claim that Beacon Hill is an historic name, but there are no grounds for so doing.

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