Cann

alias Shaston St Rumbold

Church of St Rumbold, Cann.

Cann (or Shaston St Rumbold) is a parish adjoining Shaftesbury to the south. The roads from Shaftesbury to Salisbury and to Blandford run through the parish and at the junction of these roads is a Portland Stone Memorial Cross to those who fell in the Great War. In 1895 parts of the parish of Holy Trinity and Shaftesbury St Peter were merged with Cann, but then in 1920 part of the civil parish of Cann was included in the borough of Shaftesbury. 1n 1895 a red brick cottage called Foyle Hill was serving as an emergency isolation hospital.

The church of St Rumbold was rebuilt in 1840 upon the site of the old church. It is built in stone in the Early English style and has a bell tower containing 6 bells, it was renovated in 1910. The font dates from the 12th century. The registers date from 1563. In 1895 it was reported that there were two Primitive Methodist chapels in the parish and that there was much market gardening, two flour mills and that carrots and corn were the chief crops. In 1935 the chief crops were described as wheat, oats and grass. The area is 2303 acres. The population in 1891 was 501 persons

Half Moon Inn at Cann, the main building is centuries old.
Photographs © J G Kennedy 2003

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