With a population of about 100, Aughton is a hamlet in a small farming community in the East Riding of Yorkshire, nestled in the flat basin of the vale of York. With no shops, pubs, or schools the only amenity in the village is the Victorian post box near the church.

A passage from Bulmer's History and Directory of East Yorkshire (1892) describes Aughton as:

"... a parish in the wapentake of Harthill; 8 miles NNW. of Howden. A parochial village and vicarage ... This village was the residence of Robert Aske, who in the year 1536, headed the insurrection called the "Pilgrimage of Grace." Aske is represented in history as a man of daring and enthusiastic courage, a gentleman by birth, and of considerable talents. In the latter part of the reign of Charles I. Sir Robert Aske, was master of the crown office, and one of the council of the regicides. He appears to have been the last of the family that resided at Aughton. There are no remains of the ancient mansion or castle; but the site is marked by ditches or moats one within another, with the interior vallum raised to a great height, which shows it to have been a place of considerable strength. It is situated near the eastern banks of the Derwent. Population, 259."