The Sign
The village sign is situated on the B1532, London Road South junction with St Peter’s Road. The sign is split into three panels showing the cross keys of St Peter, which is part of the church dedication, now St Peter and St John, one of the fishing smacks important when there was a port here and of course the rising sun over the sea at the bottom of the sign signifying its location on the eastern most part of the country. The sign was designed by a local schoolgirl, who won a competition from Kirkley Middle School and was unveiled on January 28th, 2003.The sign was made by an inmate of Blundeston prison, where quite a few signs in this area were constructed. The inmate attended the unveiling with the warder.

The Name and Population
Kirkley is situated in South Lowestoft, between the harbour and Pakefield. The village was called Kirkrtuna in the Domesday Book and Kirketon in 1285. The meaning is the Manor or village with a church from Old Scandanavian, Kirkja. Originally it was an independent village and had a population of 6465 in the parish back in 1901. The village had a population of 433 in 1846, with its main industry being fishing.

Other Points of Interest

Benjamin Britten was born here in 1913.

CEFAS a large fisheries research centre is based here.