ASHTON, a township, joint with Stodday, in that
part of the parish of LANCASTER which is in the hundred
of LONSDALE, south of the sands, county palatine
of LANCASTER, 3 miles (S. S. E.) from Lancaster,
containing, with Stodday, 242 inhabitants. Ashton
Hall, the property of the Duke of Hamilton, is an oblong
edifice, with a projecting wing to the east, and a
square tower with angular turrets on the west; it was
probably erected in the fourteenth century, but the numerous
alterations and additions which it has undergone
have left little of the ancient baronial mansion:
the surrounding scenery is highly beautiful. A free
school, tinder the management of trustees, has an income
of nearly £50 per annum.