England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Canford Magna

The Parish

The parish of Canford Magna (also known as Great Canford) is located in the extreme east of Dorset, indeed with its subsidiary chapelries it forms part of the border with neighbouring Hampshire. Canford Magna is located about 5 miles north of the port of Poole and 2 miles southeast of the market town of Wimborne Minster. The village is almost part of the expanding conurbation which combines Poole with the seaside resort of Bournemouth in Hampshire. Before the rapid expansion of these places this was an extensive areas of heathland which formed on the sandy soils hereabouts. Canford Magna consists of a number of small settlements scattered across the heath, the nominate settlement of Canford Magna being on the south bank of the River Stour just north of the A341 road which links Wimborne Minster with Bournemouth. This, however, today is not the major population centre. Because of the poor soils the area was limited in its agricultural potential and arable farming, in particular, was scarce; there are rich pastures along the Stour, however. The parish was extensive, at over 12,000 acres this is a large parish for a southern one. The acreage supported almost 4,000 parishioners. In Domesday times the land was held by one Edward of Salisbury and supported 18 ploughs, 2 mills and a good acreage of meadows.

The Church

The parish church, there is no known dedication, is located at the end of a long lane which runs northwards from the A341 to the banks of the River Stour. The church is accessible by the main entrance to Canford School which has an extensive site along the Stour banks and occupies the former Canford Manor. The church clearly piqued the interest if not the admiration of Pevsner as he describes it as "one of the most interesting...not one of the most beautiful" churches in Dorset. The church is a melange of styles and dates which for Pevsner did not add up to a neat whole but rather jarred. The oldest piece of the church, the present chancel, appears to have been at one time the nave of a Saxon church added to that is a Norman nave which is rather short and a rather curiously positioned northern tower also Norman. Thus the church is a very early one indeed with parts that are probably pre-Conquest. The church is best approached on foot from a car park alongside the lane which gives access to the school entrance. The site is hidden from there but easily found. The graveyard is mown and has quite a few mature trees which restrict angles a little but views are generally rather good.