Cranborne - Aerial View
Above: 18th century brick frontage hides an older core.
Above: The Parish Church of St Mary and St Bartholomew
Above: Above Cranborne...
Above: Cranborne Manor Garden Centre
Above: The Fleur-de-Lys
Above: In and around the square...
This month’s subject is a place full of character with some distinctive features that make it well worth a visit. It is probably best known, though, for giving its name to Cranborne Chase, which covers much of northeast Dorset as well as extending into Hampshire and including much of southern Wiltshire. As its name suggests, a chase was an area reserved for hunting in the Middle Ages, and the high chalk downland must have been ideal for this pursuit. The village itself is situated away from the high chalklands, lying in a rolling landscape dotted with woodlands, in the valley of the River Crane.
There are lots of attractive old buildings, most of them built of brick, and the same material has been used for most of the 20th-century houses that have extended the village down the valley for some distance. Cranborne is at the junction of several roads, and in the past it would have been an important crossroads on major routes across Dorset and beyond. It was bypassed by the railways, and today none of the routes is classed as an ’A’ road, which probably explains why it remains an attractive village rather than having grown into a small town. Despite this, it is a thriving place. There are two pubs, both with rather uncommon names, a traditional village shop, a post office, and other businesses including a hair salon.
I will start with a feature that sits prominently in the middle of the aerial photograph.
1. THE PARISH CHURCH OF ST MARY AND ST BARTHOLOMEW
Although there has been a church here since Saxon times, the earliest visible features of the present building are Norman (ie around the 12th century), including the main north doorway, where the stonework has zigzag decoration that is characteristic of this period. Much of the rest of the building dates from the 13th century – a lot of flint has been used, and among the other stonework brown heathstone is prominent.
As you enter through the main doorway, look ahead and up to see the medieval wall-paintings on the south wall of the nave. One depicts St Christopher carrying the Christ child, while a fish bites his leg. There is also a wooden medieval pulpit, a rare survival. The rounded sides have carvings of windows on the panels and various beasts above. The memorial of John Elliott on the church’s north wall near the pulpit is worth a look – he died in 1641 while at school in Cranborne, apparently choking on a fishbone. He is depicted seated and resting his head on one hand – as though struggling to stay awake during a particularly boring lesson!
One of two ways of approaching the church is along Church Street from the Fleur-de-Lys pub. Here you pass a pair of thatched houses with an 18th-century brick frontage that hides an older core.
2. THE POSSIBLE SITE OF A PRIORY
A priory of the Benedictine order was founded in Cranborne in 980AD by the wonderfully-named Aylward Snew. In 1102 the priory moved to Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, leaving behind three members of the order presumably to look after the priory’s lands here. No trace of the building now survives above ground, but a doorway in the parish church is thought to have led to the priory’s cloisters, suggesting that it lay just south of that church.
3. CRANBORNE MANOR
One authority on such matters thinks this may be ‘the loveliest manor house in Dorset’. Research has shown that its core was a hunting lodge built in 1207-8 by King John. This makes it one of the oldest domestic buildings (as opposed to churches and other religious buildings) in the country and thus of considerable historic and architectural interest.
Much of what you see today from the outside, however, was the work of the Earl of Salisbury during the reign of James I in the early-17th century. The manor lies detached from the village in its own grounds, but it can be seen well (through a gap in the trees that line the River Crane) from a public footpath that runs along the north side of those grounds.
4. CRANBORNE MANOR GARDEN CENTRE AND TEAROOM
The former walled garden of the manor house now contains a garden centre that also has a shop and a tearoom. The surrounding white cob wall topped with tiles is a couple of hundred years old, and I estimate it is around 10 to 12 feet in height. The garden centre is on the southern edge of the village, and as you approach Cranborne from the south, this wall is one of the first features to catch the eye.
5. THE FLEUR-DE-LYS
A little further on into the village from the garden centre, here is another eye-catching feature. This Hall & Woodhouse pub is a large building on the corner of Wimborne Street (the approach route from the south) and Castle Street. Parts of the building are thought to date back to the 16th century. The frontage onto Castle Street certainly looks old, and it is made all the more attractive by a large central chimney. Most of the external structure is brick, covered in a cream-coloured render.
6. IN AND AROUND THE SQUARE
The appearance of The Square is enhanced by the presence of a lot of high-quality brick buildings dating from the 18th and 19th centuries. Several other features deserve a mention. The green polygon in the upper right of this area on the aerial photograph is an attractive little formal garden. The long, white building with the red roof just to the left is Cranborne’s other pub, the Sheaf of Arrows, which must be classed as an inn since it offers accommodation. Another white building, this time with a grey roof, on a corner to the bottom left, is Cranborne Stores which sells a variety of local and other produce.
La Fosse restaurant is in London House, the back part of which reportedly dates back to the time of King John.
Into Crane Street, and two buildings here deserve a mention. One is the village fire station, which is big enough to house a single fire engine, and which has presumably remained in use because there is no large town nearby. A couple of doors away there is an attractive 18th-century cottage with a thatched roof and decorative brickwork in its walls.
7. THE RIVER CRANE
You would think that this river gave Cranborne its name. In fact, it is the other way around – the village’s name, meaning ‘place frequented by cranes’, came first and it was adapted and shortened to become the name of the river. The Crane rises a couple of miles north-west of Cranborne, and flows past the Manor and through (and partly under) The Square. Several miles downstream it joins the Moors River and eventually flows into the Stour on the edge of Christchurch.
And finally, here are a couple of features that lie outside the view of the aerial photograph:
8. CRANBORNE ANCIENT TECHNOLOGY CENTRE
On the north side of the village there is a modern school. Behind it lies this centre, whose main work is for schools, although the public can book visits on certain days. A prehistoric roundhouse, a Roman blacksmith’s forge and a Saxon workshop have been reconstructed here, ancient crafts are taught and there are events such as storytelling and a variety of performances.
9. CRANBORNE CASTLE
This overlooks the village from a hilltop on the edge of the valley. It seems not to have been a well-planned fortification built with royal approval, but merely a hurried construction by a local landowner during a civil war in the 12th century. Do not expect to see something as spectacular as Corfe Castle, for there is no stonework to see, but there are the sizeable earth mounds of the motte and bailey, albeit covered by trees.
The largest mound (the motte on which the main keep was sited) can be seen from a lane that runs on the western side of the castle, and from a public bridleway that branches off the lane and runs on the north side of the castle you can see the motte and at least a hint of the earthworks of the outer bailey. Try to imagine the site without the trees though, and you realise the site would have been an imposing sight with a commanding view over Cranborne and its valley.
For Your Info…
• Visit Cranborne Manor, for the Garden Centre and Tearoom, Manor Garden, and park walks. Telephone the Estate Office for details of opening hours and admission prices to the Garden, on (01725 517289, or the Garden Centre on (01725 517248.
• Cranborne Stores is at 1 The Square, Cranborne BH21 5PR. (01725 517210.
• You’ll find fine dining at La Fosse, in The Square. 01725 517604 to book a table. If it’s a pub you’re after, then try The Fleur-de-Lys in The Square, 01725 517282.
• For more details on the Ancient Technology Centre, 01725 517618.
• Not far from Cranborne you’ll find Edmondsham House and Gardens. 01725 517207 for details of opening times and admission prices.
• And to entertain the kids, take a trip to the Dorset Heavy Horse Centre and Farm Park in nearby Edmondsham. 01202 824040.