The inspiration for the village sign was the painting of The Gleaners by French painter Jean-François Millet (1814-1875) which depicts three women stooping in the fields to glean the leftovers from the harvest.

The ancient name for the village was Bertuna which is thought to relate to the production of barley and since Great Barton had a tithe barn and grain store for the Abbey at Bury St. Edmunds the villagers decided to take one of the characters of the painting and recreate it in the village sign.

Sadly the original village sign which stands outside the Village Hall in Elms Close was destroyed by vandals and a new sign had to be made out of seasoned oak. The logo in the top left hand corner of this website is a photograph of the original village sign; the current village sign is not painted. A copy of the painting hangs in the Village School.

In keeping with the farming theme the header for this website incorporates a photograph of farmer Graham Borley ploughing the 27 acre field adjacent to the Village School.