The Stour

Caundle Brook

The Caundle Brook is a tributary of the Stour which rises from the mills of south Holwell and runs through villages such as Stourton Caundle and Bishop's Caundle in the West of Dorset towards Sherborne.

The brook froze over in 1916, 1947 and from December 26th 1962 to the end of February 1963 (From 'Holwell and Villages Past and Present', Leslie W Coffin, 1990) 

At Holwell, the County Council have made a path down to the Caundle Brook so that the beautiful Cornford Bridge (image, top) can be seen face on. Made of coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, this bridge incorporates 15th century features, but was extensively repaired in the 18th century

It is described in Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset (Volume III, Part 1, 1970): 'The three segmental-pointed arches have voussoirs laid in two orders. Between the arches are rubble piers; on the upstream or W side these have cut-waters with ashlar facing, probably of the 18th century; on the E side the S pier has a coursed rubble cut-water while the N pier retains a mediaeval weathered buttress of three stages above a rough plinth. The upstream cut-waters support refuge niches. The rubble parapets are capped with bevelled coping-stones except at one point where a hollow-chamfered mediaeval coping-stone is used'.

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