Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the north of the

English county The counties of England are a type of subdivision of England. Counties have been used as administrative areas in England since Anglo-Saxon times. There are three definitions of county in England: the 48 ceremonial counties used for the purpo ...

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

. It is north-west of

Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...

and the same distance south-west of

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth ( ), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside resort, seaside town which gives its name to the wider Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. Its fishing industry, m ...

and is in the East Suffolk district. The parish is made up of the villages of

Somerleyton Somerleyton ( ) is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district, in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of Lowestoft ...

Ashby Ashby may refer to: People * Ashby (surname) * Alan la Zouche, 1st Baron la Zouche of Ashby (1267–1314), governor of Rockingham Castle and steward of Rockingham Forest, England * Walter Ashby Plecker (1861–1947), American physician and public ...

and Herringfleet and at the

2011 United Kingdom census A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...

had a population of 427. The three villages were each a separate parish until 1987 when they were combined into the current parish. The parish is on the county border with

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

, with the western border formed by the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The earliest attestation of the name is from 1275, ''Wahenhe'', from ''*wagen + ea'', meaning the river by a q ...

and the north by Fritton Decoy.Ashby
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

Suffolk County Council Suffolk County Council is the upper-tier Local government in England, local authority for the county of Suffolk, England. It is run by 75 elected county councillors representing 63 divisions. It is a member of the East of England Local Governme ...

. Retrieved 2021-03-13.Somerleyton
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-03-13. It borders the Suffolk parishes of

Blundeston Blundeston is a village and civil parish in the north of the English county of Suffolk. It is north-west of Lowestoft, south of Great Yarmouth and around inland from the North Sea coast. It is part of the area known as Lothingland in the Ea ...

and Lound and the Norfolk parishes of Burgh St Peter, Wheatacre,

Aldeby Aldeby is a village and civil parish in Norfolk, England. It is bounded to the south by the River Waveney, on the other side of which is Suffolk. The village is about five miles (8 km) by road from Beccles. History The name Aldeby derives ...

and

Haddiscoe Haddiscoe is a village and civil parish in the South Norfolk Non-metropolitan district, district of the England, English county of Norfolk. The parish also includes the small hamlet of Thorpe-next-Haddiscoe. Haddiscoe is located north-west of ...

across the Waveney and the parishes of Fritton and St Olaves and

Belton with Browston Belton with Browston is a civil parish in the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. Historically part of Suffolk, the parish consists of the villages of Belton and Browston Green, and is situated some 5 miles (8 km) south-west o ...

to the north. The village of

St Olaves St Olaves is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is situated on the River Waveney, south-west of the town of Great Yarmouth and the same distance north-west of the Suffolk town of Lowestoft. It is within The Broads national ...

was formerly part of the parish of Herringfleet until local government reorganisation in 1974 redrew the county boundary. Prior to this the entire area south and east of the Waveney, including Fritton and the three parishes which make up the modern parish of Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet, was part of Suffolk.Herringfleet
Suffolk Heritage Explorer,

. Retrieved 2021-03-13.

Culture and community

Somerleyton is the largest of the three villages which make up the parish, with a population of around 300. It includes the Somerleyton Estate, which is a major landowner within the wider parish.Our area
ASH Villages, Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet parish council. Retrieved 2021-03-13.Somerleyton, Ashby and Herringfleet
Healthy Suffolk, 2016. Retrieved 2021-03-13. The village was rebuilt during the 19th-century at the direction of

Samuel Morton Peto Sir Samuel Morton Peto, 1st Baronet (4 August 1809 – 13 November 1889) was an English entrepreneur, civil engineer and railway developer, and, for more than 20 years, a Member of Parliament (MP). A partner in the firm of Grissell and Peto, ...

, a railway developer who owned Somerleyton Hall. The design of the village was based on

Blaise Hamlet Blaise Hamlet is a group of nine small cottages around a green in Henbury, now a district in the north of Bristol, England. All the cottages, and the sundial on the green, are Grade I listed buildings. Along with Blaise Castle, the hamlet is l ...

near

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

and was designed by John Thomas who also rebuilt Somerleyton Hall. Ashby and Herringfleet are both sparsely populated, each with populations of around 50, mainly on scattered farms. Somerleyton has a primary school, built as part of the development of the model village, a village hall and playing field as well as the parish's only remaining public house, the ''Dukes Head''. Each of the former parish churches remain active.Lound with Ashby, Herringfleet and Somerleyton Neighbourhood Plan
Lound Parish Council, 2018. Retrieved 2021-03-14. In the 1950s,

Christopher Cockerell Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell (4 June 1910 – 1 June 1999) was an English engineer, best known as the inventor of the hovercraft. Early life and education Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curat ...

designed and tested the first

hovercraft A hovercraft (: hovercraft), also known as an air-cushion vehicle or ACV, is an amphibious craft capable of travelling over land, water, mud, ice, and various other surfaces. Hovercraft use blowers to produce a large volume of air below the ...

at his boatyard in the village. A column was erected in the village in 2010 on the 100th anniversary of Cockerell's birth. The Lowestoft to Norwich railway line runs through the parish close to the Waveney.

Somerleyton railway station Somerleyton railway station is on the Wherry Lines in the east of England, serving the village of Somerleyton, Suffolk. It is down the line from on the route to , and is less than from Somerleyton Hall on foot. Its three-letter station cod ...

has operated since 1847. The lines passes close to Cockerell's boatyard, Somerleyton Marina, and Herringfleet Windmill, both of which are within

The Broads The Broads (known for marketing purposes as The Broads National Park) is a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. Although the terms "Norfolk Broads" and "Suffolk Broads" are correctly used ...

national park.Herringfleet Marsh Mill
List entry,

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

. Retrieved 2013-03-13.

References

External links

ASH villages
parish council website {{Suffolk-geo-stub Civil parishes in Suffolk Waveney District