SUFFICIENT has been said in these pages to justify much more extended notices than we can give to the ancient castles, fine old mansions, and modern residences of wealthy proprietors in this neighbourhood, imparting as they do so much additional beauty and interest to the bold and picturesque natural scenery in the midst of which they are so tastefully situated. Oswestry, as we have already described, is not only a pretty town, but historically curious; and the charms of nature and art surrounding it render it still more worthy of admiration. We append brief descriptions of neighbouring places, all fixed near the Border Lands of England and Wales, whose history teems with glowing narratives of embattled hosts, of fierce chieftains in bright array, and of minstrels famed “In Cambria’s noon of story, Ere bright she set in glory!” Almost every nook and corner has its historic tale, its love or war-song, or its tradition. These remains of ancient times and deeds of bravery, with natural beauties superadded,—mountains, valleys, and rivers, of surpassing loveliness, have invested the Environs of Oswestry with an enduring interest with which few, if any other towns in the kingdom, can vie. Our DISTRICT SKETCHES, being arranged alphabetically, will commence with ASTON HALL, The seat of Mrs. Lloyd, widow of the late William Lloyd, Esq. It is situated on the right of the turnpike-road from Oswestry to Shrewsbury, about two miles distant from the former. The highly-respected family who have for so many years occupied this beautiful estate are of great antiquity, having descended from Einion, Prince of part of Powys, who distinguished himself in the wars against Henry I. Yorke, in his “_Royal Tribes of Wales_,” writing in 1799, has furnished a copious notice of the house of Aston.