Ashby, Suffolk

Ashby
Ashby
	St Mary's church
	Ashby Location within Suffolk
Area	4.2 km2 (1.6 sq mi)
Population	50 (2011 est.)
• Density	12/km2 (31/sq mi)
OS grid reference	TM489997
Civil parish	Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet;
District	East Suffolk;
Shire county	Suffolk;
Region	East;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Lowestoft
Postcode district	NR32
Dialling code	01502
UK Parliament	Waveney;
Website	http://www.ashvillages.org.uk/
	List of places UK England Suffolk 52°32′13″N 1°40′05″E / 52.537°N 1.668°E

Ashby is a former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, in the East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is 5+1⁄2 miles (8.9 km) north-west of Lowestoft.

The estimated population of Ashby was around 50 at the 2011 United Kingdom census. There is no village centre, with the population spread across a number of scattered farms and small settlements.^[2]^[3] The area has always been sparsely populated, with the former parish population never exceeding 110. At the 1981 United Kingdom census it had a population of 42.^[a]^[1]

The county border with Norfolk is immediately north of Ashby. Fritton Decoy marks the northern border, with the Norfolk parishes of Belton with Browston and Fritton and St Olaves bordering Ashby. To the east it borders the Suffolk parish of Lound, with Herringfleet and Somerleyton to the west and south. Much of the land within the area of the former parish is owned by the Somerleyton Estate.^[2]^[3]^[4]

History

Ashby is not named in the Domesday Book. By the 13th-century it was owned by Sir John de Askby and is recorded as having 10 taxpayers in 1327. By the end of the 16th-century the parish was owned by John Wentworth. Wentworth, who also owned a number of surrounding manors, enclosed the parish common in 1599 and the site near the parish church is the location of a possible deserted medieval village.^[1]^[5]^[6]

Admiral Sir Thomas Allin purchased the manor in 1672.^[1]^[5] A series of duck decoys are known to have been operated at Fritton Decoy from around this time.^[7] These continued to operate into the 19th century, at which time the estate was owned by railway developer Samuel Morton Peto and, from 1863, Francis Crossley. The population of the parish peaked at 110 at the 1881 United Kingdom census and declined throughout the 20th-century.^[1]^[2]^[5]

During World War II an American B17 bomber crashed close to the parish church after a signal flare had exploded inside the plane. The crash, which occurred on 7 May 1944, killed five members of the crew. A memorial to these men, as well as two P47 fighter pilots killed in a collision over Fritton Decoy in April 1945, was erected on the edge the churchyard.^[8]

During the war parts of the parish around Fritton Decoy, were used for training ahead of the Normandy landings in 1944. The 79th Armoured Division used the site for the testing and development of amphibious DD tanks between 1943 and 1947. Part of the site is now used as a campsite by the Scout Association.^[9]^[10]

The parish was combined with Somerleyton and Herringfleet to form the combined parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet on 1 April 1987.^[11]

Church of St Mary

The Church of England parish church of St Mary is in an isolated position about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) down a track, south of the hamlet. The church is built of local flint, with a small amount of red brick for quoins and repairs with stonework dating from the 13th century, although it is believed that there may have been a church on the site during the Anglo-Saxon period.^[12] The roof of the nave and chancel is thatched. It is one of around 40 round-tower churches in Suffolk.^[b]^[12]^[19]

The oldest part of the building is the Purbeck Marble Norman baptismal font, which is 12th- or 13th-century. The nave and chancel of the church are 13th-century. The tower has a round base and is octagonal from about 5 feet (1.5 m) above ground level. It was probably rebuilt early in the 16th century. The church is a Grade I listed building.^[12]^[19]

Notes

^ The 1981 census was the last time the population of Ashby as a parish was recorded.
^ The exact number of round-tower churches in the county is a matter of debate. Some sources list 38,^[13]^[14] others cite between 40 and 43.^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18] They almost all date from the late Anglo-Saxon or early Norman periods and were mostly built between the 11th and 14th-centuries. There are around 183 round-tower churches in England, most of them in Norfolk, which has around 124, and Suffolk.^[16]^[18] Four of the churches now in Norfolk were previously in Suffolk before boundary changes in 1974.^[17]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Ashby, Suffolk Heritage Explorer, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Our area, ASH Villages, Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet parish council. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ ^a ^b Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-03-13.
^ Lound with Ashby, Herringfleet and Somerleyton Neighbourhood Plan, Lound Parish Council, 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-14.
^ ^a ^b ^c Suckling AI (1846) 'Ashby', in The History and Antiquities of the County of Suffolk: Volume 1, pp. 294–301. Ipswich: WS Crowell. (Available online at British History Online. Retrieved 2021-03-16.)
^ Monument record ASY 010 - Ashby Green, Suffolk Heritage Explorer, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ Payne-Gallwey R (1886) The book of duck decoys, their construction, management, and history, pp.164–167. London: John van Vorst. (Available online. Retrieved 2021-03-13.)
^ St Mary's Church, Ashby, Somerleyton, Suffolk, American Air Museum in Britain. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ Sommers M (2013) Tank Training Site, Fritton Lake Somerleyton, Ashby & Herringfleet HER ref. SOL 029, Archaeological Survey Report, Suffolk County Council. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ Heringfleet, Suffolk Scouts, Scout Association. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ The Waveney (Parishes) Order 1987 Archived 28 August 2021 at the Wayback Machine, Local Government Boundary Commission for England. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ashby St Mary's, Suffolk, The Round Tower, pp.3–6. vol.37, no.2, December 2009, The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-03-16.
^ Round Tower Churches Map, The Temple Trail. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ Suffolk Churches, Weald and Downland Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ Norfolk Round Tower Churches, Great English Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ ^a ^b Hart S (2019) Round Tower Churches, Building Conservation, Cathedral Communications. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ ^a ^b Knott S Suffolk churches with round towers, Suffolk Churches. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ ^a ^b Welcome to the Round Tower Churches Society, The Round Tower Churches Society. Retrieved 2021-03-09.
^ ^a ^b Church of St Mary, List entry, Historic England. Retrieved 2021-03-16.