Village signs is a series of caches based on the ornate signs that depict the heritage, history and culture of the villages that put them up (normally on the village green!).
Ashwellthorpe village sign commemorates the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign of 1977 and was designed by Mr Tony Cleary and sculpted from a piece of solid elm by Mr Barry Watkins – both residents of Ashwellthorpe. The shaft, with a double-sided name board at its top, is set in a stone plinth made by a local builder Mr Ivan King and surrounded by granite sets and cobble stones, the whole being originally encircled by an oak seat.
The shaft has twenty-four carved pictorial panels recording aspects of village life, both historical and contemporary. The bottom tier of panels bears eight heraldic shields representing the de Thorp, Bourchier, Berners, Knyvett and Wilson families who held the manor and lived in Ashwellthorpe Hall over time. There is then a row of panels depicting a comedy/tragedy mask, plough, red squirrel, flowers and the ancient church door handle. The next circular row of panels has Ashwellthorpe Hall, the famous alabaster tomb of Sir Edmund de Thorp and his wife, a representation of The Knyvett Letters written by Sir Thomas Knyvett at the time of the English Civil War in the 17th Century, a tractor, and ears of corn. The Legend of the Ashwellthorpe Oak, the Huggin family of clockmakers, the Church porch, Jubilee sign, musical instruments and sporting equipment are represented on the top row of panels.
If anybody would like to expand this series please do. I would just ask that you let Smokeypugs know first so they can keep track of the Village Sign numbers and names to avoid duplication.