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Aston Tirrold is a village and civil parish in the South Oxfordshire district of Oxfordshire, about four miles south-east of Didcot, on the north side of the Berkshire Downs. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 372. It is next to the village and parish of Aston Upthorpe. One distinguishing feature of Aston Tirrold is its United Reformed Church, which is one of only two such congregations in England that can trace its history directly back to the Presbyterian dissenters in the 17th century. The congregation itself can be dated from the Act of Uniformity of 1662, from which date two local Dissenting priests, Thomas Cheesman, formerly vicar of East Garston, and Richard Comyns, formerly vicar of Cholsey, are known to have preached to congregations meeting in barns and in the open air. A Society of Dissenters was founded at Aston Tirrold some time before 1670, and the current building was erected in 1728. The current Minister of Aston Tirrold United Reformed Church is the Revd Dr Leslie Milton, who is Tutor in New Testament Studies at Ripon College Cuddesdon. The Liberal Democrat peer Lord Bradshaw is a member of the congregation. The rock band Traffic lived in Aston Tirrold in the 1960s. The tennis player Tim Henman currently lives in the village. Between Aston Tirrold and Blewbury is Blewburton Hill, an Iron Age fort. Research Tips
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