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St. James' Church in Aston, designed by Thomas Greenshields of Oxford in plain 13thcentury style, is of stone with a concrete-tiled roof; it comprises chancel, nave with north and south transepts, and a west tower to which a steeple was added in 1860, the cost met partly from a bequest of William Monk (d. 1848).  Restorations were carried out reportedly by Joseph Clarke in 1862, and by H. G. W. Drinkwater between 1885 and 1889, when the chancel was remodelled and refitted, a new altar, lectern, and seating were provided, and the octagonal stone font, given by the Revd. John Nelson in 1839, was moved to a 'more suitable' position. Plans to enlarge the chancel and add a new south vestry seem to have been abandoned. The original Stonesfield- slated roofs, of poor quality, were replaced in 1962. A 'new' organ bought in 1870 was replaced in 1896; that was electrified in 1949, and stood in 1992 at the angle of the chancel and north transept, the latter used then, as in 1848, as a vestry. The hexagonal oak pulpit and other fittings are 19thcentury. Commemorative stained glass in the east window was given in 1948, when the altar was lowered and a reredos removed; more commemorative glass was given in 1955, and new windows with coloured medallions were inserted in 1969. Electric lighting was introduced in 1949. The ring of 6 bells, acquired partly from Monk's bequest, is of 1883, by J. Taylor of Loughborough, and the plate includes 4 pieces of silver donated by Henry Hippisley in 1839. The churchyard was extended northwards in 1939. 

Historical information about the St. James' Church is provided by A P Baggs, Eleanor Chance, Christina Colvin, C J Day, Nesta Selwyn and S C Townley, 'Aston and Cote: Church', in A History of the County of Oxford: Volume 13, Bampton Hundred (Part One), ed. Alan Crossley and C R J Currie (London, 1996), pp. 75-76. British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/oxon/vol13/pp75-76 [accessed 3 April 2023].

St. James' Church is a Grade II* listed building. For more information about the listing see CHURCH OF ST JAMES, Aston, Cote, Shifford and Chimney - 1052435 | Historic England.

For more information about St. James' Church see Aston and Cote: Church | British History Online (british-history.ac.uk).