Ditteridge

The Fosse Way Roman road passes {{Convert|1.5|mi|km}} west of Ditteridge. Domesday Book in 1086 recorded a small settlement at Digeric with six households and a half share in a mill.{{OpenDomesday|ST8169|ditteridge|Ditteridge}}

Consisting today of a farm and a handful of houses, the ancient parish of Ditteridge (which included the hamlet of Alcombe) had a larger population, peaking at 119 at the 1851 census.{{cite web|title=Victoria County History – Wiltshire – Vol 4 pp315–361: Table of population, 1801–1951|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol4/pp315-361|access-date=28 October 2015|website=British History Online|publisher=University of London}} In 1881 the parish had a population of 101.{{cite web|url=https://visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10402529/cube/TOT_POP|title=Population statistics Ditteridge CP/AP through time|publisher=A Vision of Britain through Time|accessdate=2 December 2023}} As well as land around the hamlet (mostly to its north), the parish had three detached parts, all within the current Box parish.{{Cite web|title=Boundary Map of Ditteridge AP/CP|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10402529/boundary|access-date=3 February 2022|website=A Vision of Britain through Time|publisher=University of Portsmouth}} The civil parish, created in 1837, was combined with Box on 25 March 1884.{{cite web|url=https://www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/chippenham.html|title=Chippenham Registration District|publisher=UKBMD|accessdate=2 December 2023}}

Cheney Court (or Cheyney Court) is a large 17th-century manor house of two and a half storeys.{{Cite web|title=Image of Cheney Court, Ditteridge, c.1900|url=https://www.bathintime.co.uk/cheney-court-ditteridge-c-1900-36828.html|access-date=2022-01-31|website=Bath In Time|publisher=Bath and North East Somerset Council|language=en}} In the late 19th century the author P. G. Wodehouse spent some of his childhood there while his parents lived in Hong Kong, the house being owned by his grandmother and four of his aunts.Roderick Easdale, The Novel Life of PG Wodehouse (Andrews Ltd, 2014), [https://books.google.com/books?id=ohe_BAAAQBAJ&pg=PT40 p. 40] The Grade II* listed{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285230|desc=Cheney Court, Ditteridge|access-date=28 October 2015}} building was used by a language school – part of the Marcus Evans Group – as recently as 2020{{Cite web|date=December 2019|title=Learn Business English in England|url=https://www.marcusevans.com/cmscontent/48/English%20in%20England%202020%20English_(booklet).pdf|access-date=31 January 2022|website=Marcus Evans Linguarama}} but was absent from the company's website in January 2022.{{Cite web|title=marcus evans Linguarama|url=https://www.linguarama.com/english-in-england/cheney-court?lang=uk|access-date=2022-01-31|website=www.linguarama.com}}

At Middlehill, half a mile to the south, a spa was built in 1783 but failed after a few years. Spa House is from that period,{{National Heritage List for England|num=1022801|desc=Spa House|access-date=7 February 2022|fewer-links=yes}} and nearby Middlehill House is an 1830s recasing of a mid-18th century building.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1363588|desc=Middlehill House|access-date=7 February 2022|fewer-links=yes}}

From circa 1849 a school was associated with the church; after it closed in the 1880s, children attended the school at Box.

Ditteridge is about {{convert|1.4|mi|km}} east of the Three Shire Stones, which mark the point where the counties of Gloucestershire, Somerset, and Wiltshire meet.

The parish church of St Christopher is described by Orbach as "small and characterful".{{Cite book|last1=Orbach|first1=Julian|title=Wiltshire|last2=Pevsner|first2=Nikolaus|last3=Cherry|first3=Bridget|publisher=Yale University Press|year=2021|isbn=978-0-300-25120-3|series=The Buildings Of England|location=New Haven, US and London|pages=291–292|oclc=1201298091|authorlink2=Nikolaus Pevsner|authorlink3=Bridget Cherry}} There is evidence of a Saxon church on the site. The rubble stone nave of the present church dates from c.1100,{{Cite web|title=Church of St. Christopher, Ditteridge, Box|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/633|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council}} as evidenced by the south doorway which has carving of unusually high quality.{{Cite web|title=St Christopher, Ditteridge, Wiltshire|url=https://www.crsbi.ac.uk/view-item?i=7492|access-date=3 February 2022|website=The Corpus of Romanesque Sculpture in Britain and Ireland|publisher=King's College London}} The imposts have a winged dragon and a horse, and masked men's heads; the arch has lyre-shaped leaf motifs and the blank tympanum has a shallow niche, perhaps for a statue. East of the porch is a small Norman arch-headed light.{{National Heritage List for England|num=1285201|desc=Church of St Christopher|access-date=3 February 2022|fewer-links=yes}}

The chancel was added in the 13th century and has a piscina from the same period. The south porch was built in the 14th century, and changes were made to the windows in the 15th. Restoration in 1859–60 by E. W. Godwin included new roofs, ashlar lining to the north and east walls of the chancel, and an outer arched surround to the doorway. Some stained glass was designed by Godwin and the massive stone pulpit with incised decoration, described by Historic England as "high Victorian", is also his. A north vestry was added in the 20th century.

The stone bowl of the font is Norman although its shaft and base are probably later medieval. The small bellcote above the junction of nave and chancel has a single bell dated c.1599.{{Cite web|title=Ditteridge, S Christopher|url=https://dove.cccbr.org.uk/detail.php?tower=19647|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Dove's Guide for Church Bell Ringers}} There are seven Grade II listed monuments in the churchyard.{{Cite web|title=Ditteridge: St Christopher (605135)|url=https://facultyonline.churchofengland.org/CHR/ChurchDetails.aspx?id=1437#Churchyard|access-date=3 February 2022|website=Church Heritage Record|publisher=The Archbishops' Council}}

At some point the benefice was united with Box and Hazelbury, although the parishes remain distinct.{{Cite web|title=St Christopher, Ditteridge|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/church/11766/more-information/|access-date=3 February 2022|website=A Church Near You|publisher=The Archbishops' Council}} Today the parish is part of the Lidbrook Group, which also covers St John's church at Colerne.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Churches|url=https://www.boxchurch.org/churches|access-date=29 January 2022|website=Box Churches}}File: War memorial, Ditteridge - geograph.org.uk - 700045.jpg

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/WIL/Ditteridge/index.htm Ditteridge at GENUKI]
• {{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Box|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/24|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=28 October 2015}}

{{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Villages in Wiltshire

Category:Former civil parishes in Wiltshire

Category:Box, Wiltshire