The Parish Council’s Grade II listed building is known as the William Layne Reading Room in memory of the late Parish and Rotherham Borough Councillor.
It is recorded that the building opened as a school in 1743, and that the first teacher at the school was Samuel Craven who was paid a half-yearly salary of £4. The Reading Room continued as a school until 1890.
In the two hundred and seventy plus years since it was built, what had become known as the ‘Reading Room’ on Aughton Lane, which had been the first original school, community centre, storeroom, and workshop, unfortunately, laid empty and suffered years of neglect.
The Parish Council purchased the Reading Room in 1999 and carried out emergency repairs to prevent further deterioration. Fortunately, they were successful with a funding bid and were awarded a £178,500 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) this historic building was restored and once again put to good use for the benefit of the local community. The HLF grant enabled the building to have its rear stained glass window and semi-circular side windows re- instated. These were in keeping with the style of John Carr of York who possibly designed the original building. A new extension was built to house toilets and kitchen.
Aston-cum-Aughton History Society regularly use the Reading Room for their meetings and heritage open days.