Ashill Archive & History Group
Ashill Archive & History Group in Norfolk was started in 2002 (22 years and counting in 2024) and is a part of the Ashill Village Aid Charity which is known as the AVA.
The AVA was set up in 1978, over 46 years ago (to 2025), to create a central meeting point for the village and wider community and offers a warm hub, with various activities and groups meeting daily.
It is the home of the Archive History Group, who meet every Monday morning between 10:00 am and Noon, and new volunteers are most welcome. The Archive Group was set up by Enid Turner and Mary Jackman, along with a team of seven villagers. Whilst the team members have changed over the years, they have all worked tirelessly to build a lasting legacy for the village in the form of the Archive.
Making the archive future-proof
Today (2025) the Group of ten people are concentrating their efforts on making the Archive future-proof, having moved 23 plus years of paper and photographic records to a digital format (no mean feat, as it has taken over 9 months and we are still renaming and checking every file and photograph). Today, the Archive holds both hard copies and digital copies of over 10,000 items related to Ashill. This includes more than 4,950 photographs, videos, audio files, 35mm slides and circa 5,000 documents or stories. We also hold an archive of newspaper cutting scrapbooks and village newsletters, and magazines.
Over the years, the group has held a series of exhibitions, presentations, talks to local schools and community groups, as well as hosting events and these storyboards can be accessed and reused as necessary.
The Archive Group events about the village’s history and an annual Strawberry Tea, amongst other event’s help to raise funds, whilst proving extremely popular with residents and visitors alike.
How can you help?
The Archive Group is keen to hear from anyone who has ever lived in Ashill, Norfolk (there are several other Ashills in the UK), about their time there, or if they have any suitable family history, or photographs and memories they would care to share with the group. Simply pop along on a Monday morning if you live locally, or send us an email at [email protected], and we will contact you to discuss your story.