
Cranbrook is a town in the
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the
Weald
The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in ...
of
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
in
South East England
South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...
. It lies roughly half-way between
Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
and
Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...
, about southeast of central London.
The smaller settlements of
Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called ''Milkhouse Street'' (also referred to as ''Mylkehouse''), Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the sm ...
,
Swattenden,
Colliers Green
Colliers Green is a village near Cranbrook in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the no ...
and
Hartley lie within the civil parish. The population of the parish was 6,717 in 2011.
History
The place name Cranbrook derives from
Old English ''cran bric'', meaning
Crane
Crane or cranes may refer to:
Common meanings
* Crane (bird), a large, long-necked bird
* Crane (machine), industrial machinery for lifting
** Crane (rail), a crane suited for use on railroads
People and fictional characters
* Crane (surname) ...
Marsh
A marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous rather than woody plant species.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p Marshes can often be found a ...
, marshy ground frequented by cranes (although more probably
herons
The herons are long-legged, long-necked, freshwater and coastal birds in the family Ardeidae, with 72 recognised species, some of which are referred to as egrets or bitterns rather than herons. Members of the genera ''Botaurus'' and ''Ixobrychu ...
). 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 1950s,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 Rochester 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
Fuller's earth is any clay material that has the capability to decolorize oil or other liquids without the use of harsh chemical treatment. Fuller's earth typically consists of palygorskite ( attapulgite) or bentonite.
Modern uses of fuller's e ...
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 John Baker or Jon Baker may refer to:
Military figures
*John Baker (American Revolutionary War) (1731–1787), American Revolutionary War hero, for whom Baker County, Georgia was named
*John Baker (RAF officer) (1897–1978), British air marshal
...
,
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
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...
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.
Geography
Located on the Maidstone
Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...
to Hastings
Hastings () is a large seaside town and borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east to the county town of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to the north-west a ...
road
A road is a linear way for the conveyance of traffic that mostly has an improved surface for use by vehicles (motorized and non-motorized) and pedestrians. Unlike streets, the main function of roads is transportation.
There are many types of ...
, it is five miles north of Hawkhurst. Baker's Cross
A baker is someone who primarily bakes and sells bread.
Baker and Bakers may also refer to:
Brands and companies
* Baker Skateboards
* Baker's Chocolate
* Baker's Drive-Thru, chain of fast-food restaurants in Southern California
* Baker Hughe ...
is on the eastern outskirts of the town.
Cranbrook is on the Hastings Beds, alternating sands and clays which are more resistant to erosion than the surrounding clays and so form the hills of the High Weald. The geology of the area has played a major role in the town's development, deposits of iron ore and fuller's earth
Fuller's earth is any clay material that has the capability to decolorize oil or other liquids without the use of harsh chemical treatment. Fuller's earth typically consists of palygorskite ( attapulgite) or bentonite.
Modern uses of fuller's e ...
were important in the iron industry and cloth industry respectively.
Demography
At the 2011 census, Cranbrook had 6,717 residents. The Kent Structure Plan calls it the smallest town in Kent, although Fordwich has a town council and just 381 residents.[Key Statistics; Quick Statistics: Population Density]
United Kingdom Census 2011
A Census in the United Kingdom, census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Inter ...
''Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
'' Retrieved 21 November 2013
Economy
Since the decline of the cloth trade, agriculture became the mainstay of the economy.
The first bank was opened in Cranbrook in 1803 by Samuel Waddington. It closed in 1805. In 1804, the Cranbrook Bank was opened. It changed its name to the Weald of Kent Bank in 1812 and then to Bishop & Co's Bank in 1813 before being declared bankrupt in October 1814.
The Tooth family of Great Swifts, near Cranbrook, established a brewery at Baker's Cross. A large part of their trade was the export of beer to Australia. Subsequently, John Tooth emigrated to Australia in the early 1830s, traded for a time as a general merchant, and then in 1835, with his brother-in-law, John Newnham, opened a brewery in Sydney. He named the brewery Kent Brewery, which continued to 1985. Meanwhile, the brewery at Cranbrook had been sold to one William Barling Sharpe, whose daughter had married the local estate agent, William Winch. The brewery Sharpe & Winch was established in Baker's Cross at some point prior to 1846 by William Barling Sharpe (who is buried with his wife, Ann, in the cemetery at Westwell, and his daughter, Elizabeth Louisa, who married William Francis Winch). The brewery assumed the name Sharpe & Winch in 1892, and was purchased and taken over by Frederick Leney & Sons Ltd, a Wateringbury
Wateringbury is a village and civil parish near the town of Maidstone in Kent, England. The Wateringbury Stream flows into the River Medway just above Bow Bridge. It formerly powered three watermills in the village, one of which survives. The ...
company, in 1927. The brewery were responsible for the mock-Tudor extension to the 18th century ''Baker's Cross House'' (a Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...
).
Culture and community
During the 19th century, a group of artists known as the " Cranbrook Colony" were located here. The Colony artists tended to paint scenes of domestic life in rural Kent – cooking and washing, children playing, and other family activities.
Queen's Hall Theatre, part of Cranbrook School, sponsors many theatre groups, including the Cambridge Footlights
Cambridge University Footlights Dramatic Club, commonly referred to simply as the Footlights, is an amateur theatrical club in Cambridge, England, founded in 1883 and run by the students of Cambridge University.
History
Footlights' inaugural ...
and Cranbrook Operatic and Dramatic Society (CODS). Cranbrook Town Band, founded in the 1920s, is a British-style brass band, which performs regular concerts in the Queen's Hall, St Dunstan's Church and around Kent.
There have been many plans to create a community hub, starting with a proposal to convert the old council offices. The focus then switched to a £2m building planned on Wilkes Field, next to the Co-op carpark. plans included small community rooms and three large day rooms which could convert into a hall for 300 people, along with a day care centre, council offices, public toilets and even the police station. In April 2016 residents voted against the parish council taking out the £2m loan required for the project, but in September 2016 the Borough Council approved a £20m regeneration plan that would create shops, flats and a community centre.
In common with many towns a number of public houses have closed in recent years. In the town centre itself The George Hotel in Stone Street and White Horse in Carriers Road have survived and in October 2017 a Micropub named Larkins' Alehouse opened in High Street.
Cultural references
Cranbrook is the name of a hymn 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 (or more) harmony, a fast harmonic rhythm (chords change frequently), with or without refrai ...
written by Canterbury
Canterbury (, ) is a cathedral city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, situated in the heart of the City of Canterbury local government district of Kent, England. It lies on the River Stour.
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the primate of ...
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".
Landmarks
There are many medieval buildings in the area. At Wilsley Green, to the north of the town, is a Grade I-listed Wealden hall house
The hall house is a type of vernacular house traditional in many parts of England, Wales, Ireland and lowland Scotland, as well as northern Europe, during the Middle Ages, centring on a hall. Usually timber-framed, some high status examples wer ...
and cloth hall that dates to the late 14th century. There are a number of medieval cloth halls around the town - the George Hotel is in one dating to 1400, there are two more further down the High St on the north side dating from the late 15th century and 16th century. There are 15th century examples at Goddards Green Farm on Angley Rd, Hill House on The Hill, and on Friezley Lane.
Glassenbury Park is a late-15th-century manor house on the road to Iden Green
Iden Green is a small village, near Benenden, in the county of Kent. It belongs to the civil parish of Benenden and the Tunbridge Wells Borough District of Kent, in the South East of England.
In Old English 'Iden' refers to a 'pasture by the yew ...
with a 1730s front block, remodelled in 1877-79 by Anthony Salvia. Wilsley Hotel was originally built in 1864-70 as a home for the Colony artist John Callcott Horsley
John Callcott Horsley RA (29 January 1817 – 18 October 1903) was an English academic painter of genre and historical scenes, illustrator, and designer of the first Christmas card. He was a member of the artist's colony in Cranbrook.
Chi ...
, designer of the first Christmas card twenty years earlier. The architect was Richard Norman Shaw
Richard Norman Shaw RA (7 May 1831 – 17 November 1912), also known as Norman Shaw, was a British architect who worked from the 1870s to the 1900s, known for his country houses and for commercial buildings. He is considered to be among the g ...
in his first important domestic commission. The war memorial was erected on Angley Road in 1920.
Windmills
Over the years there have been four windmills in and around Cranbrook of which only the Union Mill survives and dominates the local skyline. It was built in 1814 for Henry Dobell, who went bankrupt five years later. Then 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 is a county council that governs most of the non-metropolitan county, county of Kent in England. It is the upper tier of elected local government, below which are 12 non-metropolitan district, district councils, and around ...
, who have restored it. The mill is kept in working order to this day. It stands ¼ mile (400 m) southeast of the church.
Cranbrook Common smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type ...
had common sails
Common may refer to:
Places
* Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
* Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts
* Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts
* Clapham Common, originally ...
and was winded[Turned to face the wind] by hand. It was marked on the Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...
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.[
Windmill Hill is thought to have been a ]smock mill
The smock mill is a type of windmill that consists of a sloping, horizontally weatherboarded, thatched, or shingled tower, usually with six or eight sides. It is topped with a roof or cap that rotates to bring the sails into the wind. This type ...
that was moved to Sissinghurst
Sissinghurst is a small village in the borough of Tunbridge Wells in Kent, England. Originally called ''Milkhouse Street'' (also referred to as ''Mylkehouse''), Sissinghurst changed its name in the 1850s, possibly to avoid association with the sm ...
c. 1814. It stood ¼ mile (400 m) west north west of the church.[ This mill was marked on ]Emanuel Bowen
Emanuel Bowen (1694 – 8 May 1767) was a Welsh map engraver, who achieved the unique distinction of becoming Royal Mapmaker to both to King George II of Great Britain and Louis XV of France. Bowen was highly regarded by his contemporaries for p ...
's map of Kent (1736) and also on Andrews, Drury and Herbert's map of Kent, 1769. The latter also shows a mill at Saint's Hill, 1 mile 5 furlong
A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use i ...
s (2.6 km) north east of the church.[
]
Transport
The junction of the A262 (Lamberhurst – Biddenden) and the A229 (Rochester
Rochester may refer to:
Places Australia
* Rochester, Victoria
Canada
* Rochester, Alberta
United Kingdom
*Rochester, Kent
** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area
** History of Rochester, Kent
** HM Prison ...
– Hawkhurst) pass near Cranbrook. Cranbrook is served by buses.
The Hawkhurst Branch Line ran a short distance from the town, but Cranbrook railway station, which was southwest of the centre, stopped operations on 12 June 1961. The nearest operating station is at Staplehurst.
Education
Rainbow Pre-school provides early years education in the centre of town. Cranbrook Church of England Primary School has been on its current site in Carriers Road since 1985; it was placed in special measures from November 2013 until June 2015. Colliers Green
Colliers Green is a village near Cranbrook in Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the no ...
Primary School also lies within the parish, to the north-west of Cranbrook. Dulwich Preparatory School (3–13) at Coursehorn
Coursehorn is a hamlet located immediately to the east of the village of Cranbrook in Kent, England. It is the site of the local cemetery; and Dulwich Preparatory School (DCPS), which despite the name is not connected with Dulwich College in ...
to the east of town, is a legacy of the World War II evacuation of Dulwich College Preparatory School from London. Alumni include Sophie, Countess of Wessex
Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, (born Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, 20 January 1965) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, the youngest brother of King Charles III.
She grew ...
and its buildings include two cloth halls, one dating from the 15th century and one from the 16th century.
Cranbrook School (13–18) is a voluntary-aided grammar school, dating back to 1518. A third of the pupils are boarders. The schoolhouse built in 1727 is now the Headmaster's House. The school's observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. H ...
is named after alumnus and NASA astronaut Piers Sellers; it houses the 22.5 inch Alan Young telescope operated by the Cranbrook and District Science and Astronomy Society (CADSAS).
High Weald Academy (11–18), formerly known as Angley School, was a comprehensive school. It was formed by the merger of Mary Sheafe Girls' School and Swattenden Boys' School in the 1970s and became Kent's first specialist sports college in 2000. In September 2012 it was taken over by the Hayesbrook Academy Trust (now the Brook Learning Trust) who run the Hayesbrook School
The Hayesbrook School is a non-selective boys (mixed Sixth Form) secondary school with academy status in Tonbridge, Kent, United Kingdom. It has specialisms in Sports and Mathematics.
Location
Hayesbrook is located in Brook Street, Tonbridge. ...
in Tonbridge. The school closed in 2022.
Religious sites
St Dunstan's Church is known as the "Cathedral of the Weald";[''Cranbrook A Wealden Town'', C.C.R. Pile (1955)] its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a wooden figure of Father Time
Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device.
As an image, "Father ...
and his scythe
A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tr ...
on the south face. It also contains the prototype for the Big Ben
Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...
clock in London.
Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel
The Cranbrook Strict Baptist Chapel, is a Strict Baptist place of worship in the town of Cranbrook in the English county of Kent. The chapel was built in 1787.
History
There had been a history of Baptists in Cranbrook when the first Bapti ...
was built in 1787 and is the only survivor of two Strict Baptist chapels within a short distance in the village centre; Providence Chapel is now closed. Cranbrook Congregational Church was built in Neo-Gothic style in 1857, replacing an earlier chapel. It remains Congregational
Congregational churches (also Congregationalist churches or Congregationalism) are Protestant churches in the Calvinist tradition practising congregationalist church governance, in which each congregation independently and autonomously runs it ...
, having stayed outside the United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2022 it has approximately 40,000 members in 1,284 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers.
Origins and history
The United Reformed Church resulte ...
denomination. The Catholic St Theodore's Church opened in 1958.
Sport
In 1652, a court case brought at Cranbrook by church authorities against John Rabson and others refers to "a certain unlawful game called cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by st ...
", one of the sport's earliest references. The court, however, ruled that the game was ''not'' unlawful. Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...
played two first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officia ...
matches on School Field, Cranbrook in the 1850s and two on Swifts Park, an estate just north-east of the town, in the 1860s.[Grounds Records in ''Kent County Cricket Club Annual 2017'', pp.210–211. Canterbury: ]Kent County Cricket Club
Kent County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Kent. A club representing the county was first founded in 1842 but Ke ...
.
Cranbrook Juniors Football Club (CJFC) play in the Crowborough & District Junior Football League. Home matches are played on the Rammell Field, Cranbrook on Saturday mornings.
Cranbrook Rugby Club (CRFC) play their home matches on the various rugby pitches situated around the town, including the Jaeger and Scott fields. The clubhouse is based at the Cranbrook Rugby Club, on Angley Road. Age groups range from Under 7s to the senior adult teams.
The Weald Sports Centre has indoor and outdoor facilities, including tennis courts, an indoor sports hall, a swimming pool and a dance studio. Cranbrook joggers club runs routes around Angley Woods and Bedgebury Forest.
There was an open-air swimming pool on the Frythe Estate, which closed when the Weald Sports Centre opened in 2000.
Notable people
* Rev William Robert Fountains Addison VC, (1883–1962), recipient of the Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
in the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...
* Robert Triall, Presbyterian minister and prisoner on the Bass Rock
The Bass Rock, or simply the Bass (), ( gd, Creag nam Bathais or gd, Am Bas) is an island in the outer part of the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland. Approximately offshore, and north-east of North Berwick, it is a steep-sided volcani ...
* Boyd Alexander
Lieutenant Boyd Alexander (16 January 1873 – 2 April 1910) was an English officer in the British Army, as well as an explorer and ornithologist.
Early life
Boyd was the oldest son (with a twin brother) of Lt Colonel Boyd Francis Alexander. ...
, (1873–1910), British Army officer, explorer and ornithologist
* Giles Cooper, (1968–), entertainment producer & promoter. Best known as chairman of the annual Royal Variety Performance
The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...
* Frederick Daniel Hardy, (1827–1911), genre painter and member of the Cranbrook Colony
* Harry Hill
Matthew Keith Hall (born 1 October 1964), known professionally as Harry Hill, is an English comedian, presenter and writer. He pursued a career in stand-up following years working as a medical doctor, developing an off-beat, energetic performa ...
, (1964–), comedian, born Matthew Hall, educated in Cranbrook
* William Huntington S.S., (1745–1813), preacher and eccentric
* Chris Langham, (1949–), actor and writer
* Kevin Lygo, (1957–), Head of ITV
* Piers Sellers, (1955–2016), first British-born astronaut
* Tim Smit
Sir Timothy Bartel Smit KBE (born 25 September 1954) is a Dutch-born British businessman, famous for his work on the Lost Gardens of Heligan, the Eden Project, and the Charlestown Shipwreck & Treasure Centre, all in Cornwall, England.
Early li ...
, (1954–), founder of the Eden Project
The Eden Project ( kw, Edenva) is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, UK. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay clay pit, pit, located from the town of St Blazey and from the larger town of St Austell.Ordnanc ...
* Robert Tooth, (1821–1893), prominent Sydney businessman and brewer
* Arthur Tooth
Arthur Tooth (17 June 1839 – 5 March 1931) was a ritualist priest in the Church of England and a member of the Society of the Holy Cross. Tooth is best known for being prosecuted in 1876 under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 f ...
, (1839–1931), Church of England priest imprisoned under the Public Worship Regulation Act 1874
* Thomas Webster, (1800–1886), genre painter
* Peter West, (1920–2003), TV presenter and sports commentator, born, brought up and educated in Cranbrook
Climate
The Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate).
See also
* Cranbrook, British Columbia
Cranbrook ( ) is a city in southeast British Columbia, Canada, located on the west side of the Kootenay River at its confluence with the St. Mary's River. It is the largest urban centre in the region known as the East Kootenay. As of 2016, Cra ...
, named by Colonel James Baker for his hometown in Kent.
References
Reference bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Official Cranbrook & Sissinghurst Parish Council website
Official Cranbrook Town website
''History of Cranbrook'' (2008)
Cranbrook Town
Cranbrook Union Mill site
{{authority control
Towns in Kent
Cricket in Kent
English cricket in the 14th to 17th centuries
Market towns in Kent
Civil parishes in Kent