Cranborne Manor

In the civil parish of Cranborne.
In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Three storey, early C17 manor house with basements and attics. It was originally built as a hunting lodge between 1207-8, and appears to have been referred to as a castle in 1241 and 1322. The original plan probably comprised a first floor hall and additional rooms over a vaulted undercroft with a tower to the south west. The building was heavily buttressed and crenellated with arrow slits in the machiolations. From C18 until 1860 the house was divided and in use as two farmhouses. The building was restored as a house in 1863.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Manor House
Palace.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

listed building

Images of England

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU05311322

PastScape number; 213655

Books

Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern) p22
Wilton, Phil,1995, Castles of Dorset (Wimborne)
Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge) p65-6
King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol1 p129
RCHME, 1975, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol5: east p7-12
Pevsner, N. and Newman, J., 1972, Buildings of England: Dorset (London) p171-4
Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p922-3

Journal Articles

1890, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol11 p148-158
William Barnes, about 1881, 'Cranborne, the So Called Castle' Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society Vol4 p134-136

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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Cranborne Manor

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is SU05311322

Sources of information, references and further reading