Astley, a parish in Worcestershire, on the river Severn, 8 miles SW by S of Stourport, which is the post town. Acreage, 3031; population, 828. A Benedictine priory, subordinate to the abbey of St Taurinus in France, was founded here in the time of Henry I. by Ralph de Todeni; suffered frequent seizure by the Crown during the wars with France; passed, in the time of Richard II. to John Beauchamp, and in that of Edward IV. to the college of Westbury, and was given by Henry VII. to Sir Ralph Sadleir, the compiler of the state papers. A well, known as the Prior's well, near the churchyard, is the only relic. Woodhampton and Oakhampton are-the chief residences. A hermitage was cut out of the solid. rock at Astley Cliff, near Eedstone ferry; it was, in pre-Reformation days, a place of great resort for devotees, and is assigned by tradition as a residence of Layamon, the chronicler and poet; later, it was turned into an alehouse, and is now used for farm purposes. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Worcester; value, £530. The church stands, on an eminence, and is a fine specimen of Early Norman architecture; it contains a Norman font, some good altar-tombs to the Blount family, and a replica by Bacon of his memorial to Mrs Mason in Bristol Cathedral. In the churchyard is a monument to Miss Frances Eidley Havergal, whose father was rector of this parish.