St Dunstan's Church, also known as the Cathedral of the Weald, in

Cranbrook, Kent Cranbrook is a town in the civil parish of Cranbrook and Sissinghurst, in the Weald of Kent in South East England. It lies roughly half-way between Maidstone and Hastings, about southeast of central London. The smaller settlements of Sissing ...

, England, dates to the late 13th century. It is now

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

. Its 74 feet-high tower, completed in 1425, has a wooden figure of

Father Time Father Time is a personification of time. In recent centuries he is usually depicted as an elderly bearded man, sometimes with wings, dressed in a robe and carrying a scythe and an hourglass or other timekeeping device. As an image, "Father ...

and his

scythe A scythe ( ) is an agricultural hand tool for mowing grass or harvesting crops. It is historically used to cut down or reap edible grains, before the process of threshing. The scythe has been largely replaced by horse-drawn and then tr ...

on the south face. It also contains the prototype for the

Big Ben Big Ben is the nickname for the Great Bell of the Great Clock of Westminster, at the north end of the Palace of Westminster in London, England, and the name is frequently extended to refer also to the clock and the clock tower. The official ...

clock in London.Cranbrook A Wealden Town'', C.C.R. Pile (1955) Work started in the late 13th century, the chancel arch and porch are a century later, the nave and tower were added after 1500, and William Slater and

Ewan Christian Ewan Christian (1814–1895) was a British architect. He is most frequently noted for the restorations of Southwell Minster and Carlisle Cathedral, and the design of the National Portrait Gallery. He was Architect to the Ecclesiastical Commis ...

restored the building in 1863. It is administered by the Weald Deanery, part of the Archdeaconry of Maidstone, which is in turn one of three archdeaconries in the

Diocese of Canterbury The Diocese of Canterbury is a Church of England diocese covering eastern Kent which was founded by St. Augustine of Canterbury in 597. The diocese is centred on Canterbury Cathedral and is the oldest see of the Church of England. The ''Repor ...

. Cranbrook native

Comfort Starr Comfort Starr (6 July 1589 – 2 January 1659) was a 17th-century English physician who emigrated to the Thirteen Colonies. He was one of the five founders of Harvard College. Early life Starr was born in Cranbrook, Kent, on 6 July 1589. He was ...

, one of the founding members of

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

, was baptised at the church on 6 July 1589. A memorial plaque to Starr was installed in the church after his death in 1659.''Ancestry of Lawrence Williams'', Cornelia Bartow Williams (1915), p. 275

References

External links

* Cranbrook, St Dunstan 13th-century churches Cranbrook, Kent {{England-church-stub