The Bells of Cranborne

Picture by Chris Downer

When all the eight bells of SS. Mary and Bartholomew at Cranborne  are ringing, it is said that the whole tower actually sways! The largest bell weighs over 1700 pounds!

Read Full Post »

Cranborne Manor in winter

Picture by Neosnaps

This is a view of the rear of the Cranborne Manor, or the north front, as Pevsner calls it. At the south front are substantial remains of a house built for King John (c. 1208) as a lodge for use when he was hunting in Cranborne Chase. Much of the house as it now stands was built around these early survivals in the 17th century.

Read Full Post »

Knowlton Church

The ruin of a 14th Century church in the centre of a pagan earth circle, built in the Bronze Age, makes Knowlton unique. It is located about 2 miles south of Cranborne and 6 miles north of Wimborne, Knowlton was once a thriving village and the capital of a Saxon Hundred. Today it can scarcely be called a hamlet in the parish of Woodlands.

Read Full Post »