Editing Ditchingham

{{Short description|Village in Norfolk, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| country = England
| coordinates = {{coord|52.46676|1.44351|display=inline,title}}
| os_grid_reference = TM 340 910
| official_name = Ditchingham
| population = 1,823
| population_ref = (2021 census)
| area_total_km2 = 8.56
| shire_district = [[South Norfolk]]
| shire_county = [[Norfolk]]
| region = East of England
| civil_parish = Ditchingham
| constituency_westminster = [[Waveney Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Waveney Valley]]
| postcode_district = NR35
| postcode_area = NR
| post_town = BUNGAY
| dial_code = 01986
| london_distance = 93 miles
| static_image_name = St Mary's church - geograph.org.uk - 1406281.jpg
| static_image_caption = St. Mary's Church
}}

'''Ditchingham''' is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[England|English]] [[county]] of [[Norfolk]].

Ditchingham is located {{Convert|1.3|mi|km}} north of [[Bungay]] and {{Convert|12|mi|km}} south-east of [[Norwich]], along the course of the [[River Waveney]].

==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>

==Geography==
According to the [[2021 United Kingdom census|2021 census]], Ditchingham has a total population of 1,823 people which demonstrates an increase from the 1,635 people listed in the [[2011 United Kingdom census|2011 census]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ditchingham (Parish, United Kingdom) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location |url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/eastofengland/admin/south_norfolk/E04006539__ditchingham/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.citypopulation.de}}</ref>

Ditchingham is located on the course of the [[River Waveney]] with the junction of the [[A143 road|A143]], between [[Gorleston-on-Sea]] and [[Haverhill, Suffolk|Haverhill]], and the [[B roads in Zone 1 of the Great Britain numbering scheme|B1332]], between [[Trowse]] and Ditchingham, is located in the parish.

==St. Mary's Church==
Ditchingham's parish church is dedicated to [[Saint Mary]] and dates from the Fifteenth Century. St. Mary's is located on Church Lane and has been Grade I listed since 1960.<ref>{{Cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST MARY, Ditchingham - 1050612 {{!}} Historic England |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1050612?section=official-list-entry |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=historicengland.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>

St. Mary's was restored in 1846 by [[Anthony Salvin]] and again in the 1870s by [[Frederick Preedy]].The church boasts an interesting set of stained-glass windows depicting [[Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond|Edmund Tudor]] with [[Lady Margaret Beaufort]] as well as others which may have been imported from [[Europe]] after the [[Napoleonic Wars]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Norfolk Churches |url=http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/ditchingham/ditchingham.htm |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.norfolkchurches.co.uk}}</ref>

==Chicken Roundabout==
Ditchingham's [[Chicken roundabout|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.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2020-01-27 |title=Tributes to ‘Ole Chicken Man of Bungay’ who catapulted roundabout into national spotlight |url=https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/20763987.tributes-ole-chicken-man-bungay-catapulted-roundabout-national-spotlight/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=Eastern Daily Press |language=en}}</ref>

==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]]- (1628-1683) landowner and politician, born in Ditchingham.
* [[Philip Bedingfield|Philip Bedingfield MP]]- (d.1660) landowner and politician, lived in Ditchingham.
* [[Samuel Sutton|R-Adm. Samuel Sutton]]- (1760-1832) Royal Navy officer, lived & died in Ditchingham.
* [[Lavinia Crosse]]- (1821-1890) founder of the Community of All Hallows, Ditchingham.
* [[James Franck Bright|Dr. James Franck Bright]]- (1832-1920) historian and academic, lived & died in Ditchingham.
* [[H. Rider Haggard|Sir H. Rider Haggard KBE]]- (1856-1925) author, lived & died in Ditchingham.
* [[William Carr (biographer)|William Carr]]- (1862-1925) biographer and historian, lived & died in Ditchingham.
* [[Diana Athill|Diana Athill OBE]]- (1917-2019) novelist and editor, brought up in Ditchingham.
* [[Robert Shirley, 13th Earl Ferrers|Lt. Robert Shirley, Earl Ferrers]]- (1929-2012) politician and aristocrat, lived in Ditchingham.
* [[Kevin Steggles]]- (b.1961) [[Ipswich Town F.C.|Ipswich Town]] and [[Port Vale F.C.|Port Vale]] footballer, born in Ditchingham.
* [[Deb Murrell]]- (b.1966) cyclist, born in Ditchingham.
* [[Jimmy Lewis (cricketer)|Jimmy Lewis]]- (b.1967) [[Norfolk County Cricket Club|Norfolk]] cricketer, born in Ditchingham.

== Governance ==
Ditchingham is part of the [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral ward]] of Ditchingham & Earsham for local elections and is part of the [[Non-metropolitan district|district]] of [[South Norfolk]].

The village's national constituency is [[Waveney Valley (UK Parliament constituency)|Waveney Valley]] which has been represented by the [[Green Party of England and Wales|Green Party's]] [[Adrian Ramsay|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]]. The memorial lists the following names for the [[First World War]]:<ref>{{Cite web |title=Roll of Honour - Norfolk - Ditchingham |url=https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Norfolk/Ditchingham.html |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.roll-of-honour.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Geograph:: Denton to Dunton cum Doughton :: War Memorials in Norfolk |url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/article/War-Memorials-in-Norfolk/6#denton-to-dunton-cum-doughton |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=www.geograph.org.uk}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Rank
!Name
!Unit
!Date of Death
!Burial
|-
|Sgt.
|Herbert H. Bird
|2/6th Bn., [[Gloucestershire Regiment]]
|19 Jul. 1916
|[[Loos Memorial]]
|-
|Sgt.
|Ernest W. Seeley
|6th Bn., [[South Lancashire Regiment]]
|10 Aug. 1915
|[[Helles Memorial]]
|-
|LSgt.
|Hubert G. Strowger
|2nd Bn., [[Norfolk Regiment]]
|31 Dec. 1916
|[[Basra Memorial]]
|-
|Cpl.
|Bertie A. Johnson
|7th Bn., [[Suffolk Regiment]]
|27 Mar. 1918
|[[Pozières Memorial]]
|-
|Cpl.
|J. William Sampson
|7th Bn., Suffolk Regt.
|27 Mar. 1918
|[[Pozières Memorial]]
|-
|LCpl.
|Harold C. Edmunds
|1st Bn., [[Cambridgeshire Regiment]]
|18 Sep. 1918
|[[Épehy|Épehy Wood Cemetery]]
|-
|LCpl.
|Gordon C. Williams
|1st Bn., [[Norfolk Regiment]]
|30 Aug. 1918
|[[Wimille|Terlincthun Cemetery]]
|-
|Gnr.
|Harry Runicles
|86th Bde., [[Royal Field Artillery]]
|9 Jul. 1916
|[[Thiepval Memorial]]
|-
|Gnr.
|George A. Smith
|321st Bty., [[Royal Garrison Artillery]]
|3 Jun. 1917
|[[Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery|Lijssenthoek Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Harold A. Fiske
|A Coy., [[Army Service Corps (UK)|Army Service Corps]]
|20 Apr. 1915
|[[Earsham|All Saints' Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Ernest A. Reynolds
|8th Bn., [[Border Regiment]]
|5 Jul. 1916
|[[Thiepval Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|Philip C. Simmons
|5th Bn., [[The Buffs]]
|28 Sep. 1916
|[[Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery|North Gate War Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Ralph R. Butcher
|2nd Bn., [[Coldstream Guards]]
|16 Sep. 1916
|[[Lesbœufs|Lesbœufs Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Daniel D. Fairhead
|34th Bn., [[Royal Fusiliers]]
|14 May 1918
|[[Rouen|St. Sever Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Jacob E. Kent
|1st Bn., [[Royal Irish Fusiliers]]
|18 Apr. 1918
|[[Tyne Cot]]
|-
|Pte.
|Sidney Bird
|76th Coy., [[Machine Gun Corps]]
|29 Sep. 1917
|[[Brandhoek New Military Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery|Brandhoek Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Albert V. Gorbel
|1st Bn., [[Middlesex Regiment]]
|26 Aug. 1916
|[[Thiepval Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|Reginald H. V. Dobbie
|[[Wellington Infantry Regiment (NZEF)|Wellington Regt.]], [[New Zealand Expeditionary Force|NZEF]]
|8 Aug. 1915
|[[Chunuk Bair|Chunuk Bair Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|Augustus G. Williams
|1st Bn., [[Norfolk Regiment]]
|25 Oct. 1914
|[[Le Touret Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|Harry Codling
|1/4th Bn., Norfolk Regt.
|20 Aug. 1915
|[[Helles Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|William H. Norman
|8th Bn., Norfolk Regt.
|22 Oct. 1916
|[[Thiepval Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|Arthur Gillingwater
|9th Bn., Norfolk Regt.
|13 May 1916
|[[La Brique Military Cemeteries|La Brique Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Harry A. Hale
|1st Bn., [[Northamptonshire Regiment]]
|21 Dec. 1916
|[[Caterpillar Valley Cemetery|Caterpillar Valley Cem.]]
|-
|Pte.
|Kenneth R. Hamilton
|1st Bn., Northamptonshire Regt.
|19 Nov. 1916
|[[Rouen|St. Sever Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Herbert Prior
|2nd Bn., [[Queen's Royal Regiment (West Surrey)|Queen's Royal Regiment]]
|2 Apr. 1917
|[[Croisilles, Pas-de-Calais|Croisilles Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Alan G. Attoe
|15th (Reserve) Bn., [[Rifle Brigade (The Prince Consort's Own)|Rifle Brigade]]
|1 Jan. 1918
|[[Bungay|Bungay Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|Arthur L. Garrould
|15th Bn., [[Royal Scots]]
|9 Apr. 1918
|[[Steenwerck|Three Trees Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|L. Claud Gray
|1/4th Bn., [[Suffolk Regiment]]
|29 Aug. 1916
|[[Thiepval Memorial]]
|-
|Pte.
|George H. Hansy
|7th Bn., Suffolk Regt.
|9 Sep. 1915
|[[Nieppe|Nieppe Cemetery]]
|-
|Nurse
|Mary A. Rodwell{{Efn|Nurse Rodwell was likely killed in the sinking of [[HMHS Anglia]] which struck a mine in the English Channel.}}
|[[Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps|Queen Alexandra's Nursing Corps]]
|17 Nov. 1915
|[[Hollybrook Cemetery]]
|}
And, the following from the [[Second World War]]:
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Rank
!Name
!Unit
!Date of Death
!Burial
|-
|2Lt.
|Jerome E. Treherne
|[[Oxford and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry|Ox and Bucks Light Infantry]]
|27 Jul. 1944
|[[Hermanville War Cemetery]]
|-
|LAC
|James C. Lambert
|[[Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve]]
|31 Dec. 1941
|St. Mary's Churchyard
|-
|Gnr.
|Frederick A. Plumb
|127th Bty., [[Royal Artillery]]
|14 Feb. 1941
|St. Mary's Churchyard
|-
|Pte.
|Sidney D. Fairhead
|5th Bn., [[Royal Norfolk Regiment]]
|23 Jun. 1943
|[[Kanchanaburi War Cemetery]]
|-
|Pte.
|William Reeve
|1st Bn., [[Hertfordshire Regiment]]
|1 Dec. 1941
|[[Knightsbridge War Cemetery]]
|}

== Notes ==

=== References ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Footnotes ===
{{Noteslist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|Ditchingham}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070504003635/http://www.bungay-suffolk.co.uk/tourism/bigod.htm Bath Hills Footpath] &mdash; Bungay Tourism{{oscoor gbx|TM340910_region:GB_scale:100000}}
* [http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/d/ditchingham/ Information from Genuki Norfolk] on Ditchingham.

{{Civil Parishes of South Norfolk}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Norfolk]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Norfolk]]