A BRIEF HISTORY OF CRANBROOK
GEOLOGY
Sea covered what is now the south east of England until some 20 million years ago. When it retreated it left a dome of chalk above what is today's Weald. Today only the edges of the chalk covering remain: the North and South Downs.
Within the surviving ring of chalk lie various different soils as successive deposits
formed over a much earlier Wealden lake.
Cranbrook itself has Tunbridge Wells Sand in its higher parts and Wadhurst Clay in the valleys.
The sand and sandstone has historically provided materials as well as good soil
for orchards, hops and sheep.
The clay has been used for the making of pottery, tiles and bricks but is also suitable for grazing.
UNDER THE ROMANS
The invaders had been attracted by Wealden iron. Their efficient charcoal furnaces much increased the output for both military and domestic use.
One Roman Road passing by Cranbrook enabled iron transportation northwards to Rochester and southwards to the ports. Another road branched eastwards from it and led to both Canterbury and Lympne.
It is likely that Little Farningham Farm was a significant iron-working site and the Roman Channel Fleet (Classis Britannica) was in charge of production. Locally made tiles which had
CL BR stamped on them have been excavated
along with Box tiles from hypocausts. (exhibits in Cranbrook and District Museum)
BEFORE THE NORMANS
The Romans left britain in 410 AD. The new Jutish invaders of Kent made little or no use of Roman Roads or iron workings.
The Weald was used each autumn for a few weeks' swine passage. Herds were driven into the forest from settlements to the north and east. Swine pasturage or "dens" became regularly used and homesteads began to be set up within the Kentish King's forest. Charters from the 9th century show how kings granted most of the dens to monastic foundations or individual owners who took over the dues and services. A manorial system was developing.
Settlement and clearing of its many dens led to the Cranbrook community and church being established by the early 11th century.
A settlement was listed in the Domesday Book (1086) as Cranebroca being the name of the stream which ran through it. The Crane's Brook
is marked on the Ordnance Survey map to this day. And it was from this Old English spelling that the name of the Town has descended.
There is little 12th century evidence but by the mid-13th century a sandstone church had been built dedicated to the great archbishop-statesman St Dunstan (d 988).
Probably in King John's rein (1199-1216) Cranbrook became one of the seven Weald Hundreds with its own court. Records survive from 1241: "William son of Alexander de Swetindene (Swattenden) was crushed to death by a certain beam, judgement: misfortune"
"Amicia de Sussex, taken with stolen cloths, in Cranebroc comes and acknowledges (the fact) and the jury say she is guilty"
Recognising its increasing importance, Edward I (r.1272-1307) granted the town of Cranebroc, a charter giving it the right to hold a market. The lower part of column of the original market cross (albeit adapted to serve as a sundial!) is preserved in the grounds of the Museum.
The twice weekly market and two annual fairs continued until the 19th century.
THE BROADCLOTH INDUSTRY
Cranbrook's great broadcloth industry originated in the 14th century and reached its height towards the end of the Tudor period
The English wool exporting industry was relatively unprofitable so Edward III (1327-1377) wished to break the monopoly in broadcloth manufacture then enjoyed by the Netherlands. He offered incentives and protection to Flemish weavers, fullers and dyers from Flanders. Cranbrook, with its waterpower, timber and available cottage labour became a centre for the production of broadcloth.
The industry brought prosperity to the town whose population approached 3000 by the end of the 16th century.
Successive extensions to the church were carried out and the "Cathedral of the Weald" was substantially completed by 1560.
The Town's prosperity lasted thus for about 200 years until, by an Act of Eizabeth I (1558-1603) the export of cloth for dyeing and finishing in Flanders was prohibited. Thereafter the industry declined and was replaced by agriculture.
RELIGIOUS DISSENT
Cranbrook's tradition of vigorous independence in religious beliefs goes back at least to the Lollards who criticized church abuses in the 14th and 15th centuries.
Radical protestants from Cranbrook troubled successive Tudor governments.
In the early 17th century there was a strong Puritan influence in Cranbrook, which supported Parliament in the Civil War.
Baptists, Quakers, Presbyterians and other nonconformist groups continued to thrive after the Restoration of 1660.
FROM 17th TO EARLY 19th CENTURY
Cranbrook's cloth industry declined and population fell. But Cranbrook then became an important market town serving the area surrounding it. A range of industries developed as our present street signs show: "the Tanyard", "Rope Walk", "Carriers Road".
Around the beginning of the 19th century the upkeep of roads was a parish responsibility - a responsibility which they failed to discharge, leading to the setting-up of the Turnpike Roads. The general poor condition of the roads and the high tolls charged by the turnpikes, resulted in local needs being met locally and so the Town continued to prosper.
VICTORIAN CRANBROOK
The coming of the railways, and Staplehurst Station (1842), and the consequences of the Industrial Revolution made transport easier and cheaper goods more readily available. Cranbrook's function as a market town declined and ceased.
The new mobility helped Headmaster Charles Crowden (1866-88) make a large boarding school from the old Tudor grammar school.
Comfortably isolated from London, Cranbrook attracted the "Cranbrook Colony" of artists.
Hop and fruit growing increased but local manufacturing decreased now that goods were more readily available from outside. Cranbrook's own railway station (1892) contributed to both these changes.
EARLY 20th CENTURY
The motor car had not begun to transform Cranbrook before 1914.
The First World War brought tragic losses for Cranbrook as elsewhere: 107 names on the Roll of Honour to be followed by 25 more in the Second World War.
Rural small town life was slow to change between the two World Wars.
Both gas and mains drainage came to Cranbrook in 1926. The Cranbrook Gas Company (founded 1849) was taken over by the South East Gas Company in 1939.
CRANBROOK TODAY
The Parish of Cranbrook has a population approaching 6000.The town retains its dense mediaeval layout of streets and alleys, with a number of buildings of great interest dating from the 15th to the 19th century. These display all the elements of wealden building: timber frames,
weatherboard, stucco and the rarer and more local mathematical weathering (right) which mimics brickwork.
The two main streets contain numerous enchanting and individual shops, far removed from the uniform stores found in most towns. There are specialists in art materials, antiques and cheeses. Galleries vie with unusual gift shops, old-style ironmonger rubs shoulders with kitchen experts and a maker of bespoke lampshades.
Travel agents, banks, accountants, solicitors and estate agents all contribute to the commercial life of Cranbrook.
Cranbrook is an ideal centre for exploring Kent and Sussex and a fascinating place to bring guests. Visitors are served by 3 FREE car parks, tucked beside one of which is a supermarket.
Cranbrook went on-line on the internet in June 1999
THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY THEN AND NOW
2001 - Cranbrook Farmers Market begins
