Ashby St Mary

Ashby St Mary is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The civil parish has an area of 2.03 square kilometres (0.78 sq mi) and in the 2001 census had a population of 297 in 115 households, the population increasing to 316 in 120 households at the 2011 Census.[1] For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of South Norfolk.[2]

Ashby St Mary's village sign
Ashby St Mary's Norman doorway

Ashby St Mary

St Mary, Ashby St Mary
Ashby St Mary
Location within Norfolk
Area2.03 km2 (0.78 sq mi)
Population316 (2011)
• Density156/km2 (400/sq mi)
OS grid referenceTG3202
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townNorwich
Postcode districtNR14
PoliceNorfolk
FireNorfolk
AmbulanceEast of England

Location

The village is situated 7+1⁄2 miles (12.1 km) south-east of Norwich and 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Thurton, with Claxton (to the north), Hellington (to the west) and Carleton St Peter (to the east) all lying a similar distance away. The church has a high tower, a long, low nave, and an impressive Norman doorway.[3] A tombstone in the graveyard depicts a husband and wife (George and Ann Basey) feeding their turkeys and geese;[4] Ann's much-photographed carving is repeated on the village sign, which was commissioned in 2000 to celebrate the millennium. It also depicts a windmill which stood in the village until at least 1916.[5]

History

Ashby St Mary, originally called Ascebei has existed for almost a millennium, and it was recorded in the Domesday Book,[6] as;

 "Ascebei / As(s)ebei: Roger Bigot; Godric the steward."[7]

Thomas de Cottingham, a royal clerk who later became Master of the Rolls in Ireland was appointed rector of Ashby in 1349: he was notorious for pluralism.[8] The village used to be situated in the Loddon Hundred.

St.Mary's Church

Situated in the north of Ashby St Mary, St Mary's church is notable for its Norman doorway, thought to have been carved by the same master mason as both Mundham's St. Peter, and Heckingham's St. Gregory.[9] Part of the main body of church was Norman, but has been rebuilt bit by bit over the years, however still retains the typical long low features of a Norman church, the tower is 15th Century, but with much later crenellations at the top.

The Church was used in October 2010 by Music composer Jamie Robertson who along with the Poringland Singers Choir recorded an incidental soundtrack to the Big Finish Productions story Doctor Who Relative Dimensions (with Paul McGann, Jake McGann, Carole Ann Ford and Niky Wardley).

Ashby St Mary Mill

Ashby St Mary post mill was built c.1758 and remained working for over 150 years. The mill had a roundhouse and had a 75 foot diameter footprint. The buck had a gallery at the eaves, a balcony porch with a gable end roof. The mill house was sunk one floor below ground level in order to not block wind from the mill. An auxiliary steam engine had been installed by 1900. It continued running up until at least 1906.[10]

References
  1. "Civil Parish population 2011". Retrieved 6 September 2015.
  2. Ashby St Mary parish information [South Norfolk Council] Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  3. Ashby St Mary
  4. "Norfolk Churches".
  5. Ashby St Mary Parish Council Archived September 28, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "The Domesday Book Index". Haughton.net. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2007.
  7. "The Domesday Book Online". domesdaybook.co.uk. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
  8. Blomfeld, Francis and Parkin, Charles Topographical History of the County of Norfolk London 1810 Vol. XI p.147
  9. "Norfolk Churches".
  10. http://www.norfolkmills.co.uk/Windmills/ashby-st-mary-postmill.html


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