Colby is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
Colby is located west of North Walsham and north of Norwich.
History Colby's name is of Viking origin and derives from the Old Norse for either Kolli's farm settlement or a hill farm settlement.
In the Domesday Book, Colby is recorded as a settlement of 21 households in the hundred of South Erpingham. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of King William I.
During the Second World War, searchlight batteries and an anti-aircraft emplacement were built near Colby.
Geography According to the 2021 census, Colby has a population of 492 people which shows a minor decrease from the 494 people recorded in the 2011 census.
St. Giles' Church Colby's parish church is dedicated to Saint Giles and dates from around 1300. St. Giles' is located on Long Lane and has been Grade II listed since 1960.
St. Giles' was significantly extended in the Thirteenth and Fifteenth Centuries and subsequently in the Victorian era. The font dates from the Fifteenth Century with a Victorian top and close to the font was where a finger of St. Giles was held as a relic before the English Reformation.
Notable residents Jack van Poortvliet- (b.2001) Leicester Tigers and England rugby union player, born in Colby.
Governance Colby is part of the electoral ward of Erpingham for local elections and is part of the district of North Norfolk.
The village's national constituency is North Norfolk, which has been represented by the Liberal Democrat Steff Aquarone MP since 2024.
War memorial Colby's war memorial is a set of stone plaques inside the south porch of St. Giles' Church. It lists the following names for the First World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurial2Lt.Reginald A. Sarsby10th Bn., Norfolk Regiment22 Dec. 1915Guards CemeteryPnr.Charles H. LeeRoyal Engineers14 Nov. 1918St. Giles' ChurchyardPte.Stanley A. Jordan15th Bn., Cheshire Regiment27 Mar. 1918Pozières MemorialPte.D'Arcy W. W. Hardingham13th Bn., East Surrey Regiment28 Sep. 1918St. Giles' ChurchyardPte.Frederick DoughtyHertfordshire Regiment31 Jul. 1917Menin GatePte.Stanley H. Rouse2nd (City) Bn., London Regiment3 Apr. 1918Chauny CemeteryPte.William E. Daniels2/6th Bn., Norfolk Regiment20 Mar. 1915St. Giles' ChurchyardPte.Frederick J. Matthews7th Bn., Norfolk Regt.13 Oct. 1915Loos MemorialPte.Cecil H. Burdett8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.23 Jul. 1916La Neuville CemeteryPte.Bertie H. Lowne8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.11 Aug. 1917Menin GatePte.Alfred E. Turner9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.21 Sep. 1916Grove Town CemeteryPte.Arthur W. Cooper7th Bn., Suffolk Regiment27 Mar. 1918Pozières Memorial And, the following from the Second World War: +RankNameUnitDate of deathBurialCpl.Edward L. Hall5th Bn., Royal Norfolk Regiment23 Oct. 1943Chungkai War CemeteryPte.Sidney Hudson2nd Bn., Lincolnshire Regiment8 Jul. 1944Ranville War Cemetery
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