Ditchingham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is located across the River Waveney from Bungay, Suffolk. [1]
Ditchingham's name is of Anglo-Saxon origin and derives from the Old English for the homestead or settlement of 'Dicca's' people. [2]
In the Domesday Book of 1086, Ditchingham is listed as a settlement of 36 households in the hundred of Lodding. In 1086, the village formed part of the East Anglian estates of King William I. [3]
In 1855, an Anglican convent known as the Community of All Hallows was founded in Ditchingham by Lavinia Crosse 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'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 of local schoolboy, Douglas Walter Gower. In later life, Gower discovered the tusk of a woolly mammoth near the long barrow on Broome Heath which is now displayed in Norwich Castle Museum.
Much of the surrounding countryside is part of the estate centred on Ditchingham Hall which was built in the 18th century and features gardens designed by Capability Brown. The Hall is the ancestral seat of the Earl Ferrers and is currently in the possession of Robert Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers.
The civil parish has an area of 8.56 km2 (3.31 sq mi) and in the 2011 Census had a population of 1,635 residents living in 739 households. [4]
Ditchingham falls within the constituency of South Norfolk and is represented at Parliament by Richard Bacon MP of the Conservative Party. A new two-member electoral ward called Ditchingham and Earsham was created for the 2019 district council elections, consisting of 5,132 people of voting age. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of South Norfolk.
Ditchingham's parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary and boasts one of the tallest fifteenth-century towers in South Norfolk. During the 19th century, the chancel was remodelled by Anthony Salvin, followed by a restoration of the chancel arch and nave roof by Frederick Preedy. St Mary's has an interesting set of stained-glass windows depicting Edmund Tudor with Lady Margaret Beaufort, a series of knights and a timeline of rectors of the church; the manufacturer of the windows is unknown. [5] The church is a Grade I listed building.
Ditchingham's Chicken roundabout had been home to a group of feral chickens 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 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.
Parravani's ice creams were established in the village in the early C20, and Lamberts Coaches are another long-established local company.
Sir Henry Rider Haggard was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform throughout the British Empire. His stories, situated at the lighter end of Victorian literature and including the eighteen Allan Quatermain stories beginning with King Solomon's Mines, continue to be popular and influential.
Bungay is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. It lies in the Waveney Valley, 5+1⁄2 miles west of Beccles on the edge of The Broads, and at the neck of a meander of the River Waveney. In 2011 it had a population of 5,127.
Kessingland is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located around 4 miles (6 km) south of Lowestoft on the east coast of the United Kingdom. It is of interest to archaeologists as Palaeolithic and Neolithic implements have been found here; the remains of an ancient forest lie buried on the seabed.
Broome is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. It is situated on the north bank of the River Waveney, which forms the border with Suffolk, some 2 km north of the town of Bungay and 20 km south-east of the city of Norwich.
Bradenham is a village and civil parish, a conglomeration of East and West Bradenham, in the English county of Norfolk.
Framingham Earl is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 5.8 miles (9.3 km) north-west of Loddon and 4.6 miles (7.4 km) south-east of Norwich.
Tittleshall is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.
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 direction in two retreat house, one in the grounds of their former convent at Ditchingham and another on the Isle of Mull.
Earsham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. Earsham is located 1.1 miles (1.8 km) west of Bungay and 13 miles (21 km) south-east of Norwich. The village is located close to the border between Norfolk and Suffolk, and the River Waveney.
Framingham Pigot is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 6.4 miles (10.3 km) north-west of Loddon and 3.9 miles (6.3 km) south-east of Norwich, along the A146 between Norwich and Lowestoft.
Gayton is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 6 miles (9.7 km) east of King's Lynn and 32 miles (51 km) north-west of Norwich, along the Gaywood River and the B1145 between King's Lynn and Mundesley.
Little Barningham is a village and a civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The village is 19 miles (31 km) north of Norwich, 10 miles (16 km) south-west of Cromer and 133 miles (214 km) north-east of London. The nearest railway station is in the town of Sheringham where access to the national rail network can be made via the Bittern Line to Norwich. The nearest airport is Norwich International Airport. Little Barningham is within the area covered by North Norfolk District Council.
East Tuddenham is a village in the English county of Norfolk. The village is located 5.6 miles (9.0 km) south-west of Dereham and 9.5 miles (15.3 km) north-west of Norwich and is bisected by the A47 between Birmingham and Lowestoft.
Pentney is a village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk, located about 8 miles (13 km) south east of King's Lynn placing it about halfway between King's Lynn and Swaffham on the A47 road. It covers an area of 10.39 km2 (4.01 sq mi) and had a population of 387 in 184 households at the 2001 census, increasing to 544 at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of King's Lynn and West Norfolk. It is in the valley of the River Nar, a tributary of the River Great Ouse.
Gillingham is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk. The villages is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Beccles and 15 miles (24 km) south-east of Norwich, along the A146 between Norwich and Lowestoft.
Ditchingham Hall is an English country house, near the village of Ditchingham in south Norfolk, England, which is set in about 2,000 acres (810 ha) of parkland landscaped by Capability Brown. The Hall is about 2 miles (3.2 km) northwest of Ditchingham off the B1332 road between Bungay, Suffolk and Norwich. It is the country house of Earl Ferrers since it was inherited by the 13th Countess Ferrers. The current owner is Robert William Saswalo Shirley, 14th Earl Ferrers. It is a private house and not open to the public.
The chicken roundabout is a roundabout located on the A143 road, on the Bungay and Ditchingham bypass in Suffolk, United Kingdom. The roundabout was famous for being the habitat for a large group of feral chickens, which were fed and cared for by a local man until their numbers declined and they were relocated in 2010.
St Mary's Church is a redundant Anglican church in the town of Bungay, Suffolk, England. The church and the ruins of the adjacent priory are recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and are under the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. The church stands in the centre of the town on St Mary's Street, the A144 road.
Lilias Margitson Rider Haggard, MBE was the fourth and youngest child of the British writer Sir Henry Rider Haggard and Mariana Louisa Margitson and a cousin of the naval officer Sir Vernon Haggard and the diplomat Sir Godfrey Haggard.
William Edward Scudamore (1813-1881) was a prominent Church of England priest, historian, liturgist, chaplain, and devotional author. His popular devotional manual Steps to the Altar reached its sixty-seventh edition in 1887, and was used extensively in North America and on the Indian subcontinent in addition to in Great Britain.