Information taken from Bristol and Avon Family History Society website:
In 1285 William de LYONS acquired the manor which took his family name. Thomas de Lyons founded the present parish church in about 1380. Richard CHOKE of Stanton Drew, a judge of the Court of Common Pleas purchased the manor in 1454. John SMYTH a rich Bristol merchant bought it in 1545, and eventually acquired the other manors. By 1603, the Smyths had become the principal landowners in the parish. The manor house of Ashton-Lyons, which was altered and added to by successive owners down the centuries, is now Ashton Court. Although the direct male line died out, the name SMYTH was retained. The Smyths were lords of Ashton for four centuries playing a crucial part in parish life until heavy death duties, first after dame Emily’s death in 1914 and finally, after the death of the Hon. Mrs. Esme SMYTH on 1946 forced the sale of the estates.
The parish church of All Saints dates back to about 1380 and the coat-of-arms of the founder, Thomas de Lyons can still be seen on the outside of the tower above the west window. Although the church was restored in 1871/2 some interesting features remain, such as the tomb of Sir Richard CHOKE, the late medieval rood screen and a Royal Achievement of Arms of Charles II’s reign. There are some fine tombs in the churchyard, eighteen of them as being listed as being of historical interest. A Churchyard Trust was set up in 1994 to oversee the maintenance of the monuments. Some relations of Robert SOUTHEY (Poet Laureate 1814-43) are buried near the north porch of the church, although the grave is no longer marked. Southey’s mother Margaret was a daughter of Edward HILL, of Long Ashton, who later moved to Bedminster. “The Hills are called gentlemen upon their tombstones in Ashton Churchyard, where my father, two of my brothers, my three sisters and my poor dear cousin Margaret, are deposited with them”, wrote SOUTHEY. Parish registers (from 1558) and records are deposited at Somerset Records Office.