Ditchingham is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Norfolk Norfolk ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in England, located in East Anglia and officially part of the East of England region. It borders Lincolnshire and The Wash to the north-west, the North Sea to the north and eas ...

. Ditchingham is located north of

Bungay Bungay () is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . It lies in the Waveney Valley, west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at th ...

and south-east of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...

, along the course of the

River Waveney The River Waveney is a river which forms the boundary between Suffolk and Norfolk, England, for much of its length within The Broads. The earliest attestation of the name is from 1275, ''Wahenhe'', from ''*wagen + ea'', meaning the river by a q ...

History

Ditchingham's name is of

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

origin and derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

for the homestead or settlement of 'Dicca's' people. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

, Ditchingham is listed as a settlement of 36 households in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Lodding. In 1086, the village formed part of the

East Anglian East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...

estates of

King William I William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. In 1855, an Anglican convent known as the

Community of All Hallows The Community of All Hallows is an Anglican religious order based in Ditchingham, near Bungay, Suffolk, under the jurisdiction of the Church of England. The religious sisters lead a life of prayer and service providing hospitality and spiritual ...

was founded in Ditchingham by

Lavinia Crosse Lavinia Crosse (16 December 1821 – 26 June 1890) was an English Anglicanism, Anglican nun and foundress. She founded the Community of All Hallows in Ditchingham, Norfolk in 1855. Biography Crosse was born on 16 December 1821. She was the daug ...

and Reverend William E. Scudamore. The convent acted as a refuge for women in 'moral danger' and other destitute individuals. The community closed in 2018.

Lilias Rider Haggard Lilias Margitson Rider Haggard, MBE (9 December 1892 – 9 January 1968) was the fourth and youngest child of the British writer Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Mariana Louisa MargitsonDawson Haggard D.,''The History of the Haggard Family in England ...

's novel, ''The Rabbit Skin Cap (1939)'' tells the life story of George Baldry, a local inventor and poacher. The picture on the front cover of the book is a painting by

Edward Seago Edward Brian Seago, RBA, ARWS, RWS (31 March 1910 – 19 January 1974) was an English artist who painted in both oils and watercolours. Early life The son of a coal merchant, Seago was born in Norwich and attended Norwich School. He was a se ...

of local schoolboy, Douglas Walter Gower. In later life, Gower discovered the tusk of a

woolly mammoth The woolly mammoth (''Mammuthus primigenius'') is an extinct species of mammoth that lived from the Middle Pleistocene until its extinction in the Holocene epoch. It was one of the last in a line of mammoth species, beginning with the African ...

near the

long barrow Long barrows are a style of monument constructed across Western Europe in the fifth and fourth millennia BCE, during the Early Neolithic period. Typically constructed from earth and either timber or stone, those using the latter material repres ...

Broome Heath Broome Heath is a Local Nature Reserve in Ditchingham in Norfolk, England. It is owned by South Norfolk District Council and managed by the Broads Authority. An area in the north is designated a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest a ...

which is now displayed in

Norwich Castle Museum Norwich Castle is a medieval royal fortification in the city of Norwich, in the English county of Norfolk. William the Conqueror (1066–1087) ordered its construction in the aftermath of the Norman Conquest of England. The castle was used as a ...

. Much of the surrounding countryside is part of the estate centred on

Ditchingham Hall Ditchingham Hall is an English country house, near the village of Ditchingham in south Norfolk, England, which is set in about of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. The Hall is about northwest of Ditchingham off the B1332 road between B ...

which was built in the 18th century and features gardens designed by

Capability Brown Lancelot "Capability" Brown (born c. 1715–16, baptised 30 August 1716 – 6 February 1783) was an English gardener and landscape architect, a notable figure in the history of the English landscape garden style. Unlike other architects ...

. The Hall is the ancestral seat of the

Earl Ferrers Earl Ferrers is a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1711 for Robert Shirley, 14th Baron Ferrers of Chartley. The Shirley family descends from George Shirley (died 1622) of Astwell Castle, Northamptonshire. In 1611 he w ...

and is currently in the possession of Robert Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers. In the Nineteenth Century, a

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

factory was built in Ditchingham which was later converted into a

maltings A malt house, malt barn, or maltings, is a building where cereal grain is converted into malt by soaking it in water, allowing it to sprout and then drying it to stop further growth. The malt is used in brewing beer, whisky and in certain foo ...

and later use as a depot for the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of the United Stat ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The building was severely damaged by fire in 1999 and is now in residential use.

Geography

According to the 2021 census, Ditchingham has a total population of 1,823 people which demonstrates an increase from the 1,635 people listed in the 2011 census. Ditchingham is located on the course of the

with the junction of the

A143 The A143 is a road that runs from the Gorleston-on-Sea area of Great Yarmouth, in Norfolk to Haverhill in Suffolk. For much of the route (between Gorleston-on-Sea and Bury St Edmunds) the road is classified as a primary route. Over the years ...

, between

Gorleston-on-Sea Gorleston-on-Sea (), historically and colloquially known as Gorleston, is a seaside town in the borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England. It lies to the South of Great Yarmouth, on the opposite side of the mouth of the River Yare. Historic ...

and Haverhill, and the B1332, between

Trowse Trowse (pronounced by those from Norwich and by elderly residents of the village), also called Trowse with Newton, is a village in South Norfolk which lies about south-east of Norwich city centre on the banks of the River Yare. It covers an ...

and Ditchingham, is located in the parish.

St. Mary's Church

Ditchingham's parish church is dedicated to

Saint Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

and dates from the Fifteenth Century. St. Mary's is located on Church Lane and has been Grade I listed since 1960. St. Mary's was restored in 1846 by

Anthony Salvin Anthony Salvin (17 October 1799 – 17 December 1881) was an English architect. He gained a reputation as an expert on Middle Ages, medieval buildings and applied this expertise to his new buildings and his restorations, such as those of the ...

and again in the 1870s by

Frederick Preedy Frederick Preedy (2 June 1820 – 28 March 1898) was an architect and glass painter in England. Life Preedy was born in Offenham near Evesham in Worcestershire and died at his son's home in Croydon. During his early life, his family moved f ...

.The church boasts an interesting set of stained-glass windows depicting Edmund Tudor with

Lady Margaret Beaufort Lady Margaret Beaufort ( ; 31 May 1443 – 29 June 1509) was a major figure in the Wars of the Roses of the late 15th century, and mother of King Henry VII of England, the first House of Tudor, Tudor monarch. She was also a second cousin o ...

as well as others which may have been imported from

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

after the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

Chicken Roundabout

Ditchingham's Chicken Roundabout had been home to a group of

feral chickens A feral (; ) animal or plant is one that lives in the wild but is descended from domesticated individuals. As with an introduced species, the introduction of feral animals or plants to non-native regions may disrupt ecosystems and has, in som ...

as early as the mid-1990s, cared for by a local man called Gordon Knowles. The number of birds living at the roundabout increased and declined over the years due to a range of factors including

Avian influenza Avian influenza, also known as avian flu or bird flu, is a disease caused by the influenza A virus, which primarily affects birds but can sometimes affect mammals including humans. Wild aquatic birds are the primary host of the influenza A viru ...

and theft. In 2010, the remaining chickens were given to an animal charity with a plaque to Knowles' role in the community being erected in 2012.

Amenities

Parravani's ice creams were established in the village in the early C20, and Lamberts Coaches are another long-established local company.

Notable residents

Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet Sir John Hobart, 3rd Baronet (20 March 1628 – 22 August 1683) was an English landowner and politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1654 and 1683. Hobart was the son of Sir Miles Hobart (son of Sir Henry Hobart, ...

- (1628-1683) landowner and politician, born in Ditchingham. * Philip Bedingfield MP- (d.1660) landowner and politician, lived in Ditchingham. * R-Adm. Samuel Sutton- (1760-1832) Royal Navy officer, lived & died in Ditchingham. *

- (1821-1890) founder of the Community of All Hallows, Ditchingham. * Dr. James Franck Bright- (1832-1920) historian and academic, lived & died in Ditchingham. * Sir H. Rider Haggard KBE- (1856-1925) author, lived & died in Ditchingham. * William Carr- (1862-1925) biographer and historian, lived & died in Ditchingham. * Diana Athill OBE- (1917-2019) novelist and editor, brought up in Ditchingham. * Lt. Robert Shirley, Earl Ferrers- (1929-2012) politician and aristocrat, lived in Ditchingham. * Kevin Steggles- (b.1961)

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

and

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

footballer, born in Ditchingham. *

Deb Murrell Deb Murrell (born 24 July 1966) is a British cyclist. She competed in the women's cross-country mountain biking event at the 1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta ...

- (b.1966) cyclist, born in Ditchingham. * Jimmy Lewis- (b.1967)

cricketer, born in Ditchingham.

Governance

Ditchingham is part of the

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

of Ditchingham & Earsham for local elections and is part of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

South Norfolk South Norfolk is a local government district in Norfolk, England. The largest town is Wymondham, and the district also includes the towns of Costessey, Diss, Harleston, Hingham, Loddon and Long Stratton. The council was based in Long S ...

. The village's national constituency is

Waveney Valley Waveney Valley is a constituency of the House of Commons in the UK Parliament, created following the 2023 Periodic Review of Westminster constituencies. Since its first election in 2024, it has been represented by Adrian Ramsay of the Green Part ...

which has been represented by the Green Party's Adrian Ramsay MP since 2024.

War Memorial

Ditchingham War Memorial is located inside St. Mary's Church and is a brass structure including a life-sized prone statue of a British soldier created by

Derwent Wood Francis Derwent Wood (15 October 1871– 19 February 1926) was a British sculptor. Biography Early life Wood was born at Keswick, Cumbria, Keswick in Cumbria and studied in Germany and returned to London in 1887 to work under Édouard Lantér ...

. The memorial lists the following names for the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

: And, the following from the

Notes

References

Footnotes

External links

Bath Hills Footpath
— Bungay Tourism
Information from Genuki Norfolk
on Ditchingham. {{authority control Villages in Norfolk Civil parishes in Norfolk