Quidenham

{{Short description|Village in Norfolk, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

| country = England

| coordinates = {{coord|52.45054|0.98150|display=inline,title}}

| os_grid_reference = TM 027 878

| official_name = Quidenham

| population = 560

| population_ref = (2011){{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127779&c=Quidenham&d=16&e=62&g=6447987&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&o=362&m=0&r=1&s=1470827503719&enc=1|title=Civil Parish population 2011|access-date=10 August 2016|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}

| area_total_km2 = 22.51

| static_image_name = St Andrew's church - geograph.org.uk - 1399563.jpg

| static_image_width =

| static_image_caption = Quidenham St Andrew

| shire_district = Breckland

| shire_county = Norfolk

| region = East of England

| civil_parish = Quidenham

| constituency_westminster = Mid Norfolk

| postcode_district = NR16

| postcode_area = NR

| post_town = NORWICH

| dial_code = 01953

| london_distance =

}}

Quidenham is a small rural village and civil parish in the English county of Norfolk.

It covers an area of {{convert|22.51|km2|abbr=on}} and had a population of 576 in 183 households at the 2001 census,[https://web.archive.org/web/20170211032229/https://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished urban areas and all parishes]. Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). Retrieved 20 June 2009. falling to a population of 560 living in 189 households at the 2011 Census. For the purposes of local government, it falls within the district of Breckland.

It is situated {{convert|10|mi}} north-east of the town of Thetford and {{convert|24|mi}} south-west of the city of Norwich.Ordnance Survey (1999). OS Explorer Map 230 - Diss & Harleston. {{ISBN|0-319-21862-7}}.

The placename "Quidenham" is first attested in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it appears as "Cuidenham", and means "Cwida's ham or village". The name "Cwida" corresponds to the Old High German name "Quito".Eilert Ekwall, Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, p.377.

There is a local tradition that Queen Boudica or Boadicea is buried in Quidenham.

Quidenham Hall is now a monastery of Carmelite nuns. A hospice for sick children occupies the site of some former staff cottages on the property. It is run independently of the monastery under the management of the East Anglian Children's Hospices (EACH), a registered charity under the patronage of the Princess of Wales.{{cite web|url=http://www.quidenhamcarmel.org.uk/quidenham_history.php|title=Quidenham in History|publisher=Carmelite Monastery, Quidenham|access-date=9 August 2013|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130814191852/http://quidenhamcarmel.org.uk/quidenham_history.php|archive-date=14 August 2013}}

The church of St Andrew is one of 124 existing round-tower churches in Norfolk.

Quidenham was the location of the music festival Play Fest, which ran for two years from 2011 until 2013.{{cite web|url=http://www.edp24.co.uk/business/norfolk-music-festival-playfest-set-for-liquidation-1-1829108|title=Norfolk music festival Playfest set for liquidation|first=Ben|last=Woods|website=Edp24.co.uk|access-date=1 October 2018}}

The civil parish includes the historic parish and still separate settlement of Wilby, which has its own historic church. Further, the old parishes of Eccles and Hargham now form part of Quidenham civil parish, each with their own historic church still in existence.

Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is partially located in Quidenham parish, albeit {{convert|2|mi}} to the north-west of the village. Eccles Road railway station, on the Breckland Line between Cambridge and Norwich, is a similar distance to the north of the village.