Quidenham in History

The present day village of Quidenham traces its history as far back as the Roman conquest of Britain. It is notable for its associations with Boudicca, queen of the local tribe of the Iceni, who was reputedly buried nearby. Quidenham Hall itself appears to have been in origin an important manor house of the district, the first recorded mention of it being in about the year 1000 when it belonged to a certain Guido (OE Cwida), hence the name "Guidenham" or “Cwidenham”.

In the 1400s Quidenham Hall became the property of the Bedingfelds, an important Norfolk family, and remained in their possession for about 170 years. It was from the adjacent village of Kenninghall, where she had been kept under house arrest, that Mary Tudor set out to claim the throne in 1533 and the Quidenham Bedingfelds were among the small group of local supporters who accompanied her to Framlingham Castle on that occasion. The family staunchly upheld the Catholic faith during the period of the Reformation but suffered in consequence, being forced to pay exorbitant fines for their allegiance. By 1572, the last of the Bedingfeld owners of the property was obliged to sell off the manor to a certain Protestant gentleman: a Parliamentarian called John Holland and it remained in the hands of the Holland family until 1740. It was John Holland's son, Thomas, who began the construction of what would become the present house. Later, a handsome East Wing in Palladian style and impressive West portico supported by massive Doric columns would be added by a subsequent owner, a wealthy merchant named John Bristow, whose daughter, Frances, married Sir Robert Neave, later Governor of the Bank of England.

During the reign of George III (1760-1820) Quidenham Hall was purchased by George Keppel, the 3rd Earl of Albemarle, who had distinguished himself as Commander-in-Chief at the siege and capture of Havana in 1762, the last major action of the Seven Years War. The prize money won on that occasion financed the acquisition of what would now become the family home for the Earl and his heirs.
The Earls of Albemarle, who retained possession of the Hall until 1948, were descendants of Arnold Joost van Keppel who came over to England from the Netherlands as a page to William of Orange when the latter, together with his wife Mary, gained the throne after the Revolution of 1688. A favourite of the new king, Arnold Joost became both Groom of the Bedchamber and Master of the Robes and was finally rewarded with the title of Earl in 1697.

  

 

 

Quidenham Hall came up for sale in 1948 and was bought by the Carmelites of Rushmere, a small village in Suffolk. Later, these were joined by nuns from two other Carmels and these three communities together laid the foundations for the community living there today. Standing in extensive grounds, surrounded by 142 acres of wooded plantation, pasture, and arable land in the heart of the Norfolk countryside, the old Hall, now a monastery, provides an ideal setting for the life of silence, solitude, enclosure and prayer characteristic of the Carmelite vocation. Its beautiful church, consecrated in 1957 for the use of the nuns and outlying Catholic parish, was built on the site of the original Bedingfeld house and still incorporates some of the old timbers that supported the earlier building, speaking of a continuity of history in both faith and time.