Cranborne

Village in Dorset, England, 41 km/25 mi northeast of Dorchester; population (2001) 1,900. Its church dates from about 1440. Cranborne lies in a area of natural beauty known as Cranborne Chase, covering some 260 sq km/100 sq mi. Heavily wooded in the Middle Ages, it used to be a royal hunting ground.

A Benedictine abbey was founded at Cranborne about 980. The core of the manor house is 14th century, but it was refashioned in 1607-11, when acquired by the Cecil family, who still own it. James I and Charles I stayed here while hunting in the Chase. Charles I visited Cranborne again in 1644, just before the second Battle of Newbury.