Norfolk: Quidenham

William White's History, Gazetteer, and Directory of Norfolk 1845

[Transcription copyright © Pat Newby]

QUIDDENHAM, a small village and parish, in the vale of a rivulet, 2 miles E. by N. of East Harling, has only 83 inhabitants, and 1,116A. of land. The whole, except 50 acres of glebe, is occupied by and belongs to the Earl of Albemarle, who resides at the HALL, a large and handsome mansion, chiefly of brick, seated in an extensive and well-wooded park. One front has a Doric portico, and the other a centre with four Ionic columns, supporting an entablature and pediment, with corresponding pilasters.

It was long the seat of the Holland family, whose heiress sold it to Mr. Bristow, of whom it was purchased with the manor, in 1762, by George, the third Earl of Albemarle, of the Keppel family, the title being revived in 1696, in the person of Arnold Joost Von Keppel, together with those of Baron Ashford, in Kent, and Viscount Bury, in Lancashire. He came from Holland with William the III. The title of Albemarle, in Normandy, had previously been borne by the Plantagenet, Beauchamp, and other families. The Right Hon. Wm. Chas. Keppel, the fourth and present Earl, succeeded his father in 1772.

He is patron of the rectory, valued in the King's Book at £8. 4s. 6d., and in 1831, at £658, with that of Snetterton annexed to it, in the incumbency of the Hon. and Rev. Edward Southwell Keppel, M.A., who occupies the rectory-house, a neat mansion of white brick.

The Church (St. Andrew,) is a small ancient edifice, with a tower circular at the base and octangular at the top. On the south side is a beautiful Norman door, and in the chancel is a mural monument to Sir John Holland, who died in 1700.

The Hon. Augustus Fdk. Keppel, Viscount Bury, is the Earl's eldest son. The Hon. G. Keppel, also resides here; and the upper servants at the Hall are T. Bond, butler; Miss Ludkins, housekeeper; John Coulson, farm steward; and Jas. Palmer, gamekeeper.

See also the Quidenham parish page.

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Copyright © Pat Newby.
September 2009