Post by Les on Apr 17, 2022 14:54:54 GMT
Cranbrook is a small town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and
Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent
and. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings,
about 38 miles (61 km) southeast of central London.
The smaller settlements of Sissinghurst, Swattenden,
Colliers Green and Hartley lie within the civil parish.
The place name Cranbrook derives from Old English cran bric,
meaning Crane 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.
There is evidence of early activity here in the Roman period at
the former Little Farningham Farm where a substantial iron working
site was investigated in the 1950's,in 2000 the site was the subject
of a Kent Archaeological Society fieldwork project to establish
the extent of the site and the line of the Roman road from
to Bodiam, which was published in 2001.
The site had earlier produced a number of clay tiles bearing
the mark of the Roman Fleet, or Classis Brittanica who may
have been overseeing the work.
Edward III brought over Flemish weavers to develop the Wealden
cloth industry using wool from Romney Marsh; Cranbrook became the
centre of this as it had local supplies of fuller's earth and plenty
of streams that could be dammed to drive the fulling mills.
Iron-making was carried on at Bedgebury on the River Teise,
an industry which dates back to Roman times.
The tributaries of the River Beult around Cranbrook powered 17
watermills at one time.
In 1290 the town received a charter from Archbishop Peckham,
allowing it to hold a market in the High Street.
Baker's Cross on the eastern edge of the town is linked to John Baker,
Chancellor of the Exchequer under Queen Mary, a Catholic.
Legend holds that he was riding on his way to Cranbrook in order to
have two local Protestants executed, when he turned back after the news
reached him that Queen Mary was dead.
Different versions of the legend have it that he heard the parish church
bells ringing, or that he was met by a messenger.
The place where this happened was, in the words of biographer and historian
Arthur Irwin Dasent, "at a place where three roads meet, known to this day as
Baker's Cross".
Popular legend also has it that Baker was killed at Baker's Cross; although
in fact he died in his house in London.
The town developed around the "King's High Road" (now named as High Street,
Stone Street and Waterloo Road) until the Second World War. Following the war,
additional housing was built adjacent to the historic centre - the Wheatfield Estate
to the north and the Frythe Estate to the south.
In the 1970s, a Conservation Area was designated in the town centre.
Most of the buildings on High Street, Stone Street and The Hill are listed.
Governance
In 1974 Cranbrook Rural District was merged into the Borough of Tunbridge Wells.
In 2010 Francis Rook of the Liberal Democrats won one of the three council seats
in the Benenden and Cranbrook ward from the Conservatives to become one of only 6
non-Conservative councillors out of 48 in the borough.
The name of the parish council was changed from Cranbrook Parish Council to Cranbrook
and Sissinghurst Parish Council in 2009.
The parish council is based in the Old Fire Station on Stone Street.