The Sign
The village sign is located at the top of the track down to the church of St Mary, with a few houses close by. There is also another sign showing the direction of the church just across the road. The sign was unveiled by Lady Somerleyton on 5th March 2005. The sign was provided by community effort involving villagers, the Parish Council, local builders and the Somerleyton Estate and made by Harry Stebbings of the Village Sign People. It was mainly funded by the Suffolk County Council Locality Fund. The sign is topped with the church and looks like it is being attacked by a Barn Owl, a common bird in the area. The lower panel represents the agriculture in the area by a horse and cart loaded with hay or straw, pulled by a cart horse, possibly a Suffolk Punch. To the left of the horse is an old ash tree with a boundary stone in the form of a memorial. The memorial is to William Arnold Smith-Wynne who died in 1920 and is buried in Herringfleet churchyard. He did the excavation of St Olave’s Priory, not too far away. The ash tree was recently damaged by Storm Eunice in February of 2022.

The Name and Population
Ashby is a small village/hamlet in the northeast of the county, with a population of around 50 at the 2011 census. The parish was combined with Somerleyton and Herringfleet in 1987. The population is spread around the parish consisting of scattered farms and small settlements. The parish borders on to Norfolk to the north running along Fritton Decoy, which is a series of man-made lakes from medieval peat cutting and now forms Lound Lakes run by the Suffolk Wildlife Trust. Ashby is not mentioned in the Domesday Book but was owned by Sir John de Askby in the C13th. The name possibly derives from either Aski’s settlement or Ash Farm. Askr is Old Norse for Ash tree.

Other Points of Interest
The church of St Mary shown on the sign is a C12th building, probably on foundations of a much older church. The tower is one of around 40+ round towers in Suffolk and one of many in the local area. The top of the tower has been replaced with a much taller octagonal stage furnished with an impressive sundial and many put-log holes which were used for housing old scaffolding poles. The church is very rustic and houses a Norman square font made of Purbeck Marble. Just outside the churchyard entrance is a WWII memorial to the American Air Force Servicemen who died locally.