Tarrant Crawford

Tarrant Crawford
Dorset
Wayside Cross, Tarrant Crawford
Location
Grid reference:	ST925035
Location:	50°49’50"N, 2°6’42"W
Data
Population:	20
Post town:	Blandford Forum
Postcode:	DT11
Local Government
Council:	Dorset
Parliamentary constituency:	North Dorset

Tarrant Crawford is a small village at the lower end of the Tarrant Valley in Dorset. The River Tarrant joins the larger River Stour here. The village consists of two small settlements: Crawford Farm and a few houses in the Stour Valley, and Tarrant Abbey Farm, a church, and a few houses in the Tarrant Valley about half a mile to the north.

Locally Crawford Farm and Tarrant Abbey Farm are considered two separate hamlets. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 20.

At the Crawford settlement there is a wayside cross which has an inscription which reads:

"THIS WAYSIDE CROSS WAS RESTORED & SET ON NEW STEPS ON THE OLD SITE BY MANY FRIENDS OF TARRANT CRAWFORD ANNO DOM MDCCCCXIV"

The 1881 census says - No. of households/schedules 11, Uninhabited houses 0, Males 31, Females 30, Total 61

Tarrant Abbey

Tarrant Abbey Farm was in mediæval times the site of Tarrant Abbey, founded in the 12th century by Ralph de Kahaines (of nearby Tarrant Keyneston) as a Cistercian nunnery, later supposedly the richest in England.

Queen Joan, the wife of King Alexander II of Scotland and daughter of King John of England, is buried in the graveyard (supposedly in a golden coffin).

St Mary's Church

Thirteenth-century murals in St Mary's

St Mary's Church, near Tarrant Abbey Farm, is known for its 13th- and 14th-century wall paintings, many of which are in a remarkable state of preservation.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Tarrant Crawford)

• Personal interest site with information about Tarrant Crawford
• Photographs and Information on St Mary's Church etc. from Strolling Guides

References

• Miller, Alan: 'Monasteries of Dorset' (Albemarle Books, 1999) ISBN 0-9535263-0-5