The Sign
The first village sign at Walberswick was erected in 1953 to commemorate the Queen's Coronation. Clifford Russell, an architect and artist living in the village, designed the sign. The original sign stood at the entrance to the village was stolen in 1984. Its replacement was copied from a photograph and is two-thirds the size of the original and stands on the Green. However, the original sign was recovered in 2012. It has been restored and erected opposite the church. Appropriately, it was unveiled during the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

The sign depicts the Walberswick Frigate. It was built on the old quay at the bottom of Stocks Lane for Cromwell's Navy and named "Basing". It was launched in 1654, its length was 80 feet with a beam of 24 feet 6 inches and a draught of 12 feet and carried 22 guns. In 1660, and the restoration of the monarchy, it was renamed "H.M.S. Guernsey" and eventually decommissioned from the Royal Navy in 1693. In the tracery above is a crown, reflecting the royal charters granted to the town between 1262 and 1625 and also the commemoration of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

The Name and Population
The population was 380 at the 2011 census. It was called Walbedeswike in 1199 and Walberteswyk in 1275. The name means "The harbour or trading centre of a man called Walbert", from Old English. It was not mentioned in the Domesday Book.

Other Points of Interest

Mr and Mrs Newstead had bought the sign at a garage sale in London in the mid 1990s, without knowing it had been stolen. It was only when on holiday that they saw a road-sign to the village that they became aware that Walberswick was actually a place; they returned it to the village.

Almost half of the village's properties are holiday homes and many celebrities live here.

At the top of the village is the 15th-century St Andrew's Church, which has been reduced in size since its medieval heyday. The size of the remaining St Andrew's ruins demonstrate how large the parish church once was.