swuklink: Canford Magna, <a href="BAAAGBYS.php">Dorset</a>

Canford Magna, Dorset, England OS Map Grid Ref: SZ032983
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THE MANOR OF CANFORD
In William I's Domesday Book of 1087 the manor is recorded as extending out to Poole, Hamworthy, Longfleet and Parkstone as well as including the extensive Canford Heath. It was known as Canford Magna but its position declined as Poole rose in its own right as a town as well as the manor's port.

The 70 marks which the town paid for the charter enabled William Longespée to go on crusade to the Holy Land where he was killed in 1249. It return, Poole recieved a great measure of independence from the manor to which it had previously belonged; the right to appoint a 'Port Reeve' (or Mayor); the right to hold its own court rather than be subject to the manorial court of Canford Magna; and the exemption from certain tolls and customs duties on goods shipped from the Port.

Poole was granted its first charter in 1248 by William Longespée, the crusading Lord of Canford Manor.

The manor became the property of Ela, Countess of Salisbury, when she was orphaned by the death of the 2^nd Earl of Salisbury and became a ward of King Richard I ('the Lionheart'). She also became Sherriff of Wiltshire. In time, she married the famous knight William Longsword who thus became the 3^rd Earl of Salisbury and served three monarchs; Richard I, King John and Henry III. Their story bears a seperate telling - see William Longsword & Ela, Earl & Countess of Salisbury.

The manor was held by a number of influential families, the Beauforts, Fitzroys, Montagues, Mountjoys and Salisburys before reverting to the crown and being granted to another royal favourite.

The school which was established here in 1923 stands in 260 acres of playing fields which border on the water meadows of the river Stour.

The present embattled house was commenced by the architect who designed Abbotsford for Sir Walter Scott and completed by Sir Charles Barry who designed the Houses of Parliament. The new building was attached to the medieval house which was built in the 12^th century and to which King John often came.

One wing of the house is known as John of Gaunt's Kitchen although there is no evidence that John of gaunt ever came to the place. Many historic folk did however, including William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury, the Black Prince, Margaret Beaufort, Henry VII and Henry VIII. The oldest part of the wing dates from the 14^th century and the remainder is Tudor.

Henry VII gave the house to Margaret Beaufort, his mother, and she held it for nearly a quarter of a century. Henry VIII held it himself for more than 20 years.

Until it became a school, the house was the seat of the Guest family. The great staircase there, elaborately carved in walnut by a Venetian craftsman, was installed towards the end of the 19^th century in memory of Sir Henry Layard who married a daughter of the Guests and often stayed at the house. He gave the house a group of sculpture which he brought from Nineveh and were later sold to the Philadelphia Museum.

The church stands close to the entrance of the park. Originally Saxon and Norman, it has been much restored. The monuments, brasses and windows are all reminders of the Guests who restored the church and rebuilt the house.