Cranbrook, Kent
Encyclopedia
Cranbrook is a small town in Kent
in South East England
which was granted a charter in 1290 by Archbishop Peckham, allowing it to hold a market in the High Street. Located on the Maidstone
to Hastings
road, it is five miles north of Hawkhurst
. The smaller settlements of Swattenden
, Colliers Green
and Hartley
lie within the parish. Baker's Cross
is on the outskirts of the town.
Marsh
, marshy ground frequented by cranes (although more probably herons). Spelling of the place name has evolved over the centuries from Cranebroca (c. 1100); by 1226 it was recorded as Cranebroc, then Cranebrok. By 1610 the name had become Cranbrooke, which evolved into the current spelling.
; and iron-making
was carried on at Bedgebury
on the River Teise. The church here was dedicated to St Dunstan. Called the "Cathedral of the Weald", its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a wooden figure of Father Time
and his scythe
on the south face. It also contains the prototype for the Big Ben clock in London
.
Cranbrook had a number of watermill
s and windmill
s over the centuries. There were about seventeen watermills around Cranbrook, all on tributaries of the River Beult
.
There were four windmills in Cranbrook over the centuries, one of which survives today.
Windmill Hill
This mill was marked on Emanuel Bowen
's map of Kent (1736) and also on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of Kent, 1769. It is thought that the mill was a smock mill
, and that it was moved to Sissinghurst
circa 1814. It stood ¼ mile (400 m) west north west of the church.
Saint's Hill
This mill was marked on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's Map of Kent, 1769. It stood 1 mile 5 furlong
s (2.6 km) north east of the church.
Cranbrook Common
This was a smock mill with common sails
and winded by hand. It was marked on the Ordnance Survey
map covering the area which was published between 1858 and 1872. The mill was last worked in 1876 and was demolished on 9 August 1902. The mill stood 1¾ miles (2.8 km) north north east of the church.
Union Mill
One of the surviving Kent windmills, the Union Mill
, was built for Henry Dobell in 1814. After Dobell went bankrupt in 1819, the mill was run by a union of creditors until 1832. The Russell family ran it for the next 128 years, when it was sold to Kent County Council
, who have restored it. The mill is kept in working order to this day. It stands ¼ mile (400 m) southeast of the church.
The junction of the A262 (Lamberhurst – Biddenden) and the A229 (Rochester – Hawkhurst
) pass near Cranbrook.
The nearest railway station is , 5 miles (8 km) to the north. Cranbrook railway station on the Hawkhurst Branch Line
served the town from 1892 to 1961. Cranbrook is the smallest town
in Kent
.
(grammar, 13-18), both of which are co-educational.
Cranbrook Church of England primary school, is a mixed 4-11 school set in beautiful surroundings. www.cranbrook-cep.kent.sch.uk It was originally located in a manor house
. The house was said to have been visited by Queen Elizabeth I. After the original building burnt down, the school moved to a site to the north of the Church Yard and Jockey Lane. The primary school remained on this site for about a century. In 1985 the school moved to its current location in Carriers Road where it recently celebrated its' 25th anniversary of the new site and buildings.
Growth of the town's population and the collection of temporary classrooms and 1960s prefabs yielded to construction in 1985 of a new building at the end of Carriers Road, where the school remains. With the new school, all the pupils came together under one roof. Barely three years after its opening, growth in the town's population forced purchase of additional temporary classrooms. Almost all of the buildings of the old school were knocked down to make way for a development of sheltered accommodation for old people.
The only building to escape the bulldozer was the south wing, which had contained the three classrooms of the infant school (the first three years). This building was gutted and converted to a surgery for general practice. A family planning clinic was built west of it. Sadly the old school's collection of formalin-pickled amphibians, reptiles and soft-bodied sea creatures disappeared when the school moved to its new premises.
There is also a pre-school located in the centre of the town: Rainbow Pre-school, which provides early years education for those in the weald.
group produces an annual show.
The Cranbrook Town Band, founded in the 1920s, is a British-style brass band
, which performs regular concerts in the Queens Hall, St Dunstan's Church, and around Kent.
courts, an indoor sports hall, a swimming pool and a dance studio.
Cranbrook is raising funds to build a new Community Centre by 2012.
", was located here. .
, Cranbrook railway station stopped operations in 1961. The nearest operating station is at Staplehurst
.
Cranbrook is served by the following Arriva Southern Counties
buses:
written by Canterbury
cobbler Thomas Clark
around 1805, and later used as a tune for the Christmas hymn "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
". The tune later became associated with the Yorkshire song "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at".
Cranbrook British Columbia Canada was named by Colonel James Baker for his hometown of Cranbrook Kent UK.
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
in South East England
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England, designated in 1994 and adopted for statistical purposes in 1999. It consists of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Surrey and West Sussex...
which was granted a charter in 1290 by Archbishop Peckham, allowing it to hold a market in the High Street. Located on the Maidstone
Maidstone
Maidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
to Hastings
Hastings
Hastings is a town and borough in the county of East Sussex on the south coast of England. The town is located east of the county town of Lewes and south east of London, and has an estimated population of 86,900....
road, it is five miles north of Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. The parish lies to the south-east of Tunbridge Wells. Hawkhurst itself is virtually two villages...
. The smaller settlements of Swattenden
Swattenden
Swattenden is a small settlement near Cranbrook, Kent, UK. It is situated on the B2086 about a mile from Hartley, where the A229 crosses the settlement...
, Colliers Green
Colliers Green
Colliers Green is a village near Cranbrook in Kent, England. The highlight of this small village is a particularly attractive girl who goes by the name of Jessica Green....
and Hartley
Hartley, Cranbrook
Hartley is a village one mile southwest of Cranbrook in Kent, England. The only retailer in the area is a local farmshop. Hartley lies on the A229. It also has a delightful lake, used frequently for fishing and a well kept retirement home. George is a just one of many happy adolescents whom enjoys...
lie within the parish. Baker's Cross
Baker's Cross
Baker's Cross is a settlement in Kent, England. It is part of the village of Cranbrook, situated on the eastern edge of the village.- "Bloody Baker" legend :...
is on the outskirts of the town.
Origin of name
The place name Cranbrook derives from Old English cran broc, meaning CraneCrane (bird)
Cranes are a family, Gruidae, of large, long-legged and long-necked birds in the order Gruiformes. There are fifteen species of crane in four genera. Unlike the similar-looking but unrelated herons, cranes fly with necks outstretched, not pulled back...
Marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
, marshy ground frequented by cranes (although more probably herons). Spelling of the place name has evolved over the centuries from Cranebroca (c. 1100); by 1226 it was recorded as Cranebroc, then Cranebrok. By 1610 the name had become Cranbrooke, which evolved into the current spelling.
History
In medieval times, Cranbrook was a centre of the Wealden cloth industryWealden cloth industry
Cloth-making was, apart from iron-making, the other large-scale industry carried out on the Weald of Kent and Sussex in medieval times. The ready availability of wool from the sheep of the Romney Marsh, and the immigration from Flanders in the fourteenth century of cloth-workers – places like...
; and iron-making
Wealden iron industry
The Wealden iron industry was located in the Weald of south-eastern England. It was formerly an important industry, producing a large proportion of the bar iron made in England in the 16th century and most British cannon until about 1770. Ironmaking in the Weald used ironstone from various clay...
was carried on at Bedgebury
River Teise
The River Teise is a tributary of the River Medway in Kent, England. It begins in Dunorlan Park in Tunbridge Wells. and flows eastwards past Bayham Abbey and then through Lamberhurst...
on the River Teise. The church here was dedicated to St Dunstan. Called the "Cathedral of the Weald", its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a wooden figure of Father Time
Father Time
Father Time is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, somewhat worse for wear, dressed in a robe, carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device...
and his scythe
Scythe
A scythe is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass, or reaping crops. It was largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tractor machinery, but is still used in some areas of Europe and Asia. The Grim Reaper is often depicted carrying or wielding a scythe...
on the south face. It also contains the prototype for the Big Ben clock in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Mills
Watermill
A watermill is a structure that uses a water wheel or turbine to drive a mechanical process such as flour, lumber or textile production, or metal shaping .- History :...
s and windmill
Windmill
A windmill is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational energy by means of vanes called sails or blades. Originally windmills were developed for milling grain for food production. In the course of history the windmill was adapted to many other industrial uses. An important...
s over the centuries. There were about seventeen watermills around Cranbrook, all on tributaries of the River Beult
River Beult
The River Beult is a tributary of the River Medway. It has several sources west of Ashford, including one at Woodchurch. It then flows through Headcorn. At Hunton, above Yalding it is joined by the major stream of the River Teise. Town bridge lies 10¼ miles from Allington, it is the longest...
.
There were four windmills in Cranbrook over the centuries, one of which survives today.
Windmill Hill
This mill was marked on Emanuel Bowen
Emanuel Bowen
Emanuel Bowen was an English map engraver, who worked for George II of England and Louis XV of France as a geographerHe published a 'Complete Atlas of Geography,' 1744-7; an 'English Atlas, with a new set of maps,' 1745; a 'Complete Atlas .....
's map of Kent (1736) and also on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of Kent, 1769. It is thought that the mill was a smock mill
Smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind...
, and that it was moved to Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is a small village in the county of Kent in England. Originally called Milkhouse Street , Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the smuggling and cockfighting activities of the Hawkhurst Gang.The nearest railway station is at...
circa 1814. It stood ¼ mile (400 m) west north west of the church.
Saint's Hill
This mill was marked on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's Map of Kent, 1769. It stood 1 mile 5 furlong
Furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and U.S. customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to 220 yards, 660 feet, 40 rods, or 10 chains. The exact value of the furlong varies slightly among English-speaking countries....
s (2.6 km) north east of the church.
Cranbrook Common
This was a smock mill with common sails
Windmill sail
Windmills are powered by their sails. Sails are found in different designs, from primitive common sails to the advanced patent sails.-Jib sails:...
and winded by hand. It was marked on the Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
map covering the area which was published between 1858 and 1872. The mill was last worked in 1876 and was demolished on 9 August 1902. The mill stood 1¾ miles (2.8 km) north north east of the church.
Union Mill
One of the surviving Kent windmills, the Union Mill
Union Mill, Cranbrook
Union Mill is a Grade I listed smock mill in Cranbrook, Kent, England which has been restored to working order. It is the tallest smock mill in the United Kingdom.-History:...
, was built for Henry Dobell in 1814. After Dobell went bankrupt in 1819, the mill was run by a union of creditors until 1832. The Russell family ran it for the next 128 years, when it was sold to Kent County Council
Kent County Council
Kent County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Kent in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are 12 district councils, and around 300 town and parish councils. The county council has 84 elected councillors...
, who have restored it. The mill is kept in working order to this day. It stands ¼ mile (400 m) southeast of the church.
About Cranbrook
Cranbrook has around 7,000 residents.The junction of the A262 (Lamberhurst – Biddenden) and the A229 (Rochester – Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst
Hawkhurst is a village and civil parish in the borough of Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. The parish lies to the south-east of Tunbridge Wells. Hawkhurst itself is virtually two villages...
) pass near Cranbrook.
The nearest railway station is , 5 miles (8 km) to the north. Cranbrook railway station on the Hawkhurst Branch Line
Hawkhurst Branch Line
The Hawkhurst Branch Line was a short railway line in Kent that connected Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Horsmonden with the town of Paddock Wood and the South Eastern and Medway Valley lines, a distance of ....
served the town from 1892 to 1961. Cranbrook is the smallest town
Town
A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.
Education
There are two secondary schools in Cranbrook: Angley School (comprehensive, 11-18) and Cranbrook School, KentCranbrook School, Kent
Cranbrook School is a co-educational boarding and day grammar school located in Cranbrook, Kent in South East England.-Brief history:Founded in 1518 for poor boys of the town, it received a charter from Queen Elizabeth I in 1574. Although in 1817 the town petitioned the Master of the Rolls,...
(grammar, 13-18), both of which are co-educational.
Cranbrook Church of England primary school, is a mixed 4-11 school set in beautiful surroundings. www.cranbrook-cep.kent.sch.uk It was originally located in a manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
. The house was said to have been visited by Queen Elizabeth I. After the original building burnt down, the school moved to a site to the north of the Church Yard and Jockey Lane. The primary school remained on this site for about a century. In 1985 the school moved to its current location in Carriers Road where it recently celebrated its' 25th anniversary of the new site and buildings.
Growth of the town's population and the collection of temporary classrooms and 1960s prefabs yielded to construction in 1985 of a new building at the end of Carriers Road, where the school remains. With the new school, all the pupils came together under one roof. Barely three years after its opening, growth in the town's population forced purchase of additional temporary classrooms. Almost all of the buildings of the old school were knocked down to make way for a development of sheltered accommodation for old people.
The only building to escape the bulldozer was the south wing, which had contained the three classrooms of the infant school (the first three years). This building was gutted and converted to a surgery for general practice. A family planning clinic was built west of it. Sadly the old school's collection of formalin-pickled amphibians, reptiles and soft-bodied sea creatures disappeared when the school moved to its new premises.
There is also a pre-school located in the centre of the town: Rainbow Pre-school, which provides early years education for those in the weald.
Entertainment
The Queens Hall Theatre, part of Cranbrook School, sponsors many theatre groups, including the Cambridge Footlights and Cranbrook Opera and Dramatic Society (CODS). The Showtimers pantomimePantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
group produces an annual show.
The Cranbrook Town Band, founded in the 1920s, is a British-style brass band
Brass band
A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting entirely of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands , but are usually more correctly termed military bands, concert...
, which performs regular concerts in the Queens Hall, St Dunstan's Church, and around Kent.
Amenities
The Weald Sports Centre has indoor and outdoor facilities, including four tennisTennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
courts, an indoor sports hall, a swimming pool and a dance studio.
Cranbrook is raising funds to build a new Community Centre by 2012.
Art
During the 1800s, a group of artists who called themselves "The Cranbrook ColonyCranbrook Colony
The Cranbrook Colony was a group of artists who settled in Cranbrook, Kent from 1854 onwards and were inspired by seventeenth century Dutch and Flemish painters...
", was located here. .
Public transport
Formerly served by the Hawkhurst Branch LineHawkhurst Branch Line
The Hawkhurst Branch Line was a short railway line in Kent that connected Hawkhurst, Cranbrook, Goudhurst and Horsmonden with the town of Paddock Wood and the South Eastern and Medway Valley lines, a distance of ....
, Cranbrook railway station stopped operations in 1961. The nearest operating station is at Staplehurst
Staplehurst railway station
Staplehurst railway station serves Staplehurst in Kent, England. The station, and all trains serving it, are operated by Southeastern. Staplehurst is south east of London Charing Cross on the South Eastern Main Line....
.
Cranbrook is served by the following Arriva Southern Counties
Arriva Southern Counties
Arriva Southern Counties is a bus operator in London, Surrey, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent and Essex in England. It is a regional division of Arriva.- History :...
buses:
- 5 to StaplehurstStaplehurstStaplehurst can mean:* Staplehurst in England* RAF Staplehurst, a World War II airfield in England* Staplehurst railway station* Staplehurst rail crash, a railway accident in 1865* Staplehurst, Nebraska, a small village in the United States...
, MaidstoneMaidstoneMaidstone is the county town of Kent, England, south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the centre of the town linking Maidstone to Rochester and the Thames Estuary. Historically, the river was a source and route for much of the town's trade. Maidstone was the centre of the agricultural...
and SandhurstSandhurst, KentThe village of Sandhurst is in Kent near the border with East Sussex. It is situated very close to Bodiam. It is located on the A268 near the villages of Hawkhurst and Northiam... - 297 to Tunbridge Wells, TenterdenTenterdenTenterden is a Cinque Port town in the Ashford District of Kent, England. It stands on the edge of the Weald, overlooking the valley of the River Rother....
and AshfordAshford, KentAshford is a town in the borough of Ashford in Kent, England. In 2005 it was voted the fourth best place to live in the United Kingdom. It lies on the Great Stour river, the M20 motorway, and the South Eastern Main Line and High Speed 1 railways. Its agricultural market is one of the most... - 298 on Sundays, which mainly follows the route of the 297 and is run by Kent Top TravelKent Top TravelKent Top Temps Ltd trading as KENT TOP TRAVEL is a bus operator in Kent, England, wholly owned by Kent County Council . The majority of Kent Top Travel's route portfolio comprises rural, evening and Sunday services let under competitive tender in open competition with private bus operators...
Notable residents
- William Robert Fountains Addison VCVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, (1883-1962), recipient of the Victoria CrossVictoria CrossThe Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
in World War IWorld War IWorld War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918... - Harry HillHarry HillHarry Hill , is a Perrier Award–winning English comedian, author and television presenter. A former medical doctor , Hill began his career in comedy with the popular radio show Harry Hill's Fruit Corner.-Personal life:Hill was born in Woking,...
(1964-), comedian, born Matthew Hall, educated in Cranbrook - William Huntington S.S.William Huntington (preacher)William Huntington S.S. was an English preacher and coalheaver...
(1745-1813), preacher and eccentric - Chris LanghamChris LanghamChristopher "Chris" Langham is an English writer, actor and comedian. He is most famous for playing MP Hugh Abbot in BBC Four sitcom The Thick of It and as presenter Roy Mallard in People Like Us, first on BBC Radio 4 and later on its transfer to television on BBC Two, where Mallard is almost...
(1949-), actor and writer - Robert ToothRobert ToothRobert Tooth was one of three brothers of Sydney's Tooth brewery family. He built two of Sydney's grandest houses, Cranbrook House and The Swifts.-Early life:...
, (1821-1893), prominent Sydney businessman and brewer - Arthur ToothArthur ToothArthur Tooth SSC was a Ritualist priest in the Church of England and a member of the Society of the Holy Cross . Tooth is best known for having been prosecuted in 1876 under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 for using proscribed liturgical practices...
(1839-1931), Church of England priest imprisoned under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874
Other
Cranbrook is the name of a hymn tuneHymn tune
A hymn tune is the melody of a musical composition to which a hymn text is sung. Musically speaking, a hymn is generally understood to have four-part harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm , and no refrain or chorus....
written by Canterbury
Canterbury
Canterbury is a historic English cathedral city, which lies at the heart of the City of Canterbury, a district of Kent in South East England. It lies on the River Stour....
cobbler Thomas Clark
Thomas Clark (of Canterbury)
Thomas Clark was a Canterbury shoemaker and a prolific composer of West Gallery music, especially for the non-conformist churches of the South East of England...
around 1805, and later used as a tune for the Christmas hymn "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks
"While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" is a Christmas carol describing the Annunciation to the Shepherds, with words attributed to Irish hymnist, lyricist and England's Poet Laureate, Nahum Tate....
". The tune later became associated with the Yorkshire song "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at".
Cranbrook British Columbia Canada was named by Colonel James Baker for his hometown of Cranbrook Kent UK.
Quote
Sources
- The Place Names of Kent, Judith Glover.
- The Origin of English Place Names, P.H. Reaney.
- The Dictionary of British Place Names
- Dictionary of English Place Names, A.D.Mills.
External links
- Official Cranbrook Town website
- History of Cranbrook (2008), Cranbrook Town
- Cranbrook Operatic and Dramatic Society
- St. Dunstan's Parish Church
- Cranbrook School (incl. Queens Hall Theatre)
- Cranbrook Squash Club
- Cranbrook Town Band
- Cranbrook Film Society
- Cranbrook Symphony Orchestra
- Cranbrook Union Mill site