Editing Ditchingham (section)

==History==
Ditchingham's name is of [[Anglo-Saxon]] origin and derives from the [[Old English]] for the homestead or settlement of 'Dicca's' people.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key to English Place-names |url=http://kepn.nottingham.ac.uk/map/place/Norfolk/Ditchingham |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=kepn.nottingham.ac.uk}}</ref>

In the [[Domesday Book]], Ditchingham is listed as a settlement of 36 households in the [[Hundred (county division)|hundred]] of Lodding. In 1086, the village formed part of the [[East Anglia|East Anglian]] estates of [[William the Conqueror|King William I]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ditchingham {{!}} Domesday Book |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/TM3292/ditchingham/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=opendomesday.org}}</ref>

In 1855, an Anglican convent known as the [[Community of All Hallows]] was founded in Ditchingham by [[Lavinia Crosse]] and [[William E. Scudamore|Reverend William E. Scudamore]]. The convent acted as a refuge for women in 'moral danger' and other destitute individuals. The community closed in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-02-25 |title=All Hallows: Ditchingham convent to close after 150 years |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-norfolk-43172433 |access-date=2025-01-02 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>

[[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|Norwich Castle Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Long barrow and round barrows on Broome Heath, Broome - 1004002 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004002 |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DITCHINGHAM HALL, Ditchingham - 1153041 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1153041 |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

In the Nineteenth Century, a [[silk]] factory was built in Ditchingham which was later converted into a [[maltings]] and later use as a depot for the [[US Army]] during the [[Second World War]]. The building was severely damaged by fire in 1999 and is now in residential use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MNF23024 - Norfolk Heritage Explorer |url=https://www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk/record-details?MNF23024 |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.heritage.norfolk.gov.uk}}</ref>