[1] Ashley Clinton is located between Norsewood and Ongaonga, some 18 kilometres west of Waipukurau.
[2][3][4] The Ashley Clinton area was acquired by the Government from the local Maori in the 1850s and consists of part of the Ruahine, Ruataniwha and Makaretu Blocks.
The Government named it Makeritu, which caused confusion with mail being occasionally misdirected.
Makaretu, another small settlement nearby was seeking its own Post Office at this time but was declined as it was thought that they already had one due to the name similarity.
That same year horse racing (hurdles) was held at Ashley Clinton.
Another bush fire passed by Ashley Clinton in 1895 but caused no damage to infrastructure there.
[19] Through this time a coach service ran from Ashley Clinton to Takapau.
[22] In 1971 drilling was carried out by Beaver Exploration (New Zealand) Limited at Ashley Clinton, Takapau, and Ongaonga.
[24] In 1938 the Education Board proposed merging the Makaretu and Ashley Clinton schools at Sherwood.