George Eliot
There are a number of links between the church of St Mary the Virgin in Astley and the writer George Eliot (real name Mary Ann Evans).
The author’s parents were married in Astley church and her father was employed by the nearby Arbury Estate.
George Eliot drew extensively on her knowledge of Astley church in her writing. In ‘Revered Gilfil’s Love Story, part of ‘Scenes of Clerical Life’, Eliot accurately describes the interior of Astley Church - called Knebley in the story.
These were her first works of fiction and are full of penetrating observations of life in the small Midlands town of Milby, (based on nearby Nuneaton).
