insideKENT Magazine Issue 84 - March 2019 | Page 44

TOWNSPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT ON
CRANBROOK
CRANBROOK HAS A RATHER GRAND TITLE: THE CAPITAL OF THE WEALD OF KENT.
QUITE APT, IF WE DO SAY SO OURSELVES. LOCATED AROUND HALFWAY BETWEEN THE
COUNTY TOWN OF MAIDSTONE AND EAST SUSSEX’S COASTAL HASTINGS, CRANBROOK
LOOKS LIKE A TRADITIONAL WEALDEN TOWN, FEELS LIKE A TRADITIONAL WEALDEN
TOWN, AND ACTS LIKE A TRADITIONAL WEALDEN TOWN. YET BENEATH THE TRADITION,
CRANBROOK’S BEATING HEART IS MOST DEFINITELY UP TO DATE.
History in Brief
Whereas many old and original names for places in
and around Kent seem to have changed
unrecognisably, Cranbrook’s name hasn’t changed
very much at all. It originally came from the Old
English ‘cran broc’ and simply means ‘crane marsh’.
Of course, what the early settlers thought were cranes
are actually herons (many of which can still be seen
in the area), but since the Old English for heron is
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hairon, it actually turned out for the best that they
made this mistake; Haironbrook doesn’t quite have
the same charm to it as Cranbrook does.
The Weald became famous thanks to the cloth
industry. It was Edward III who invited Flemish
weavers to settle in the area – he could see that their
skills could bring the country a lot of money.
Cranbrook and the surrounding area was ideal for
weaving as the river could be dammed and watermills
built quickly. At one point there were 17 such
watermills in Cranbrook.
As the money came in, that small village grew into
a town, and Cranbrook became the epicentre of the
Weald of Kent.