Cranborne itself has a magnificent Manor House that dates back when Henry VIII was on the throne and it has been improved considerably by the Cecil's who became the Lords of the Manor during the reign of James I, and exquisite Jacobean porches were added.

Cranborne like most places in the counties of England has its great days engraved in the past, and here there were troops garrisoned who protected the kings who hunter on the Chase and the population was more or less the same as London. A market was held every week and there were two fairs held each year. There was a tannery here and weavers made cloth as well eleven breweries providing plenty of refreshment, and it was also a setting for the pen of Thomas Hardy.

The name Cranborne is said to be from the Saxon period although its first record in the Domesday Survey as  Creneburne, and later  mediaeval spelling like Craneburna in 1163 and in 1207 it was Craneborne and all show the name meant Stream frequented by cranes, which probably referred to herons, from the old English cran (genitive plural crana) and burna and like so many of the Dorset towns and villages the stream has given the place its name. But here the stream referred to is called the River Crane today though it is not the original name of the stream, and in Berkshire and Hampshire the same name is used but spelt Cranbourne.

The Cranborne Chase was first recorded in the early 13th century and in 1461, was called the 'Kings Chase of Cramburne' and takes its name from Cranborne since the Lords of the Manor of Cranborne were always the lord of the manor of the Chase, incidentally the word chace in Middle English denoted 'a tract of ground for breeding and hunting wild animals'. And most of the chase extending from east to west is woodland that is millions of years old.

The village is attractive with cottages made mainly of red brick and many of them colour washed. The church is dedicated to St Mary, St Peter and St Bartholomew has a Norman door and there are mediaeval paintings that show the Seven Deadly Sins, and the Seven Corporal Acts of Mercy.

Three miles southwest of the vilage there is a henge, as sacred area that is encircled by a bank with a ditch inside, and this has been dated at around 1,800BC and the ruins of Knowlton Church are here along with another church that is said to have stood here even longer. Two other stone circles are also in the area.