Cranbrook is a Kentish village on the Maidstone-Hastings road, some five miles north of Hawkhurst. The smaller settlements of Swattenden and Hartley lie within the parish.
In medieval times it was a centre of the Wealden cloth industry; and iron-making was also carried on. The church here, dedicated to St Dunstan, is often called the Cathedral of the Weald; its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a stone figure of Father Time and his scythe on its south face.
The Mill
One of the few extant Kent windmills is here: the Union Mill, it was built by Henry Dobell in 1814. Dobell went bankrupt shortly after, and the Russell family ran it for next 125 years, when it was sold to Kent County Council, who have restored it.
About Cranbrook
Cranbrook has around 10,000 residents. It is sited near the junction of the A262 (Lamberhurst - Biddenden) and the A229 (Rochester - Hawkhurst). The nearest railway station is Staplehurst, 5 miles to the north. The one-time railway station was closed in the 1950s.
There is a good sports centre: the Weald Sports Centre situated Two secondary schools exist in Cranbrook: Angley (comprehensive, 11-18) and Cranbrook (grammar, 13-18). Both are co-educational. There is also a primary school in Cranbrook, known simply as Cranbrook Primary, and was originally located in an old manor house, visited by Queen Elizabeth I. However, that then burnt down, and the school is now located near The Old School Surgery, at Carriers Rd.
"Cranbrook is a village giving the impression of trying to remember what once made it important" H.E. Bates (The Darling Buds of May), who knew Cranbrook well. NB: Cranbrook is actually a town as it houses offices of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.
External link
The real story on Cranbrook, from the Knowhere guide. (http://www.knowhere.co.uk/3446.html)
Cranbrook at VillageNet (http://www.villagenet.co.uk/highweald/villages/cranbrook.php)
Cranbrook Kingswood School is an independent, co-educational, day and boarding school in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, United States.
Cranbrook School, Kent, is a voluntary aided non-denominational boarding and day co-educational grammar school located in Kent, England, United Kingdom.
Cranbrook School, Sydney is an independent, K-12 day and boarding school, located in Sydney, Australia.
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