Cranborne
Cranborne maps (2 available)
Map of Dorset
Beautifully hand-drawn and coloured, dating from around 1840
Personalised maps
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Cranborne books (13 available)
- 2 photos on Cranborne appear in 2 Frith books - View photos of Cranborne
- Read extracts and see photos from these books on Cranborne and Dorset
Cranborne memories
Read and share memories of Cranborne and Dorset inspired by Frith photos
Cranborne 1938
I was living at Cranborne where my father was the police sergeant. At the time of a crisis, members of the government came to stay with Lord Cranborne at the manor.
The matter of security arose and it was decided a policeman should be on duty at all times as he would notice any strangers. Around the same period the massive German air ship flew over at a few 1000 feet. The Hindenberg; the largest thing I have ever seen in the sky.
Contributed by painter robert
Cranborne in the early sixties
I lived in Cranborne for two years from November 1963. My father owned the shops at the far end of the terrace in this picture and the building immediately facing, although it was derelict at that time. My sister and I were enrolled in the local secondary school that had opened two months earlier.
Contributed by Gillian Graystone
Dorset memories
Cranborne 1938
I was living at Cranborne where my father was the police sergeant. At the time of a crisis, members of the government came to stay with Lord Cranborne at the manor.
The matter of security arose and it was decided a policeman should be on duty at all times as he would notice any strangers. Around the same period the massive German air ship flew over at a few 1000 feet. The Hindenberg; the largest thing I have ever seen in the sky.
A memory of Cranborne contributed by painter robert
Cranborne in the early sixties
I lived in Cranborne for two years from November 1963. My father owned the shops at the far end of the terrace in this picture and the building immediately facing, although it was derelict at that time. My sister and I were enrolled in the local secondary school that had opened two months earlier.
A memory of Cranborne contributed by Gillian Graystone
Extracts From Cranborne & Dorset books
Cranborne lies at the heart of an ancient woodland chase; it is still relatively unspoiled. Once the headquarters of poaching gangs, Cranborne is now a peaceful venue for rambles and sightseeing.
An extract from from"Dorset Revisited Photographic Memories".
Cranborne Church, at the heart of the ancient hunting Chase, is one of the largest churches in Dorset. Cranborne and the villages round about were the residences of many local poachers until very recent times. Notice the advertisements for Mazawattee Tea and Spratt’s Patent Dog Cakes on the building in front of the church.
An extract from from"Dorset Living Memories".
Thomas Hardy writes of a journey into Cranborne in ‘Tess of the D’Urbervilles’, where the present Fleur-de-Lys tavern is depicted as the much less salubrious ‘Flower-de-Luce’. In the woodlands of the Chase, Tess is seduced by Alec D’Urberville, though Hardy’s imagination makes the area much wilder than it would probably have been even in his day.
An extract from from"Dorset Pocket Album".
The bank on the
corner has become
the Midland Bank,
while across The
Square the familiar
names of Boots the
Chemists and Foyle’s
Library appear on
shop signs. Between
them the draper Albert
Hyland features a
range of blouses and
underwear in his
window display. The
centre of The Square
has become a car park.
An extract from from"Wimborne Photographic Memories".
Less than 20 years have passed since No 52472 was taken, but motor vehicles in the High Street and The Square now outnumber horse-drawn ones by nine to one. Note also that Buddens tailors shop on the corner of The Square has been demolished and replaced by the London Joint City Bank, established in 1836.
An extract from from"Wimborne Photographic Memories".