Cranbrook (hymn tune)

The hymn tune "Cranbrook" was composed in the 1790s or early 1800s by Thomas Clark (1775–1859), a cobbler of Canterbury, and is best known as the tune to the Yorkshire "national anthem" "On Ilkla Moor Baht 'at".

The tune was originally published in "A Sett of Psalm & Hymn Tunes with some Select Pieces and an Anthem" in 1805 as a setting for "Grace 'tis a charming sound" by Philip Doddridge, but soon became more widely known as a tune for "While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks" by Nahum Tate. It can be used as a setting to many common metre hymns by repeating the last line.

Thomas Clark was a regular visitor to Cranbrook, Kent in the 1790s, and he may have composed the tune there, possibly with the help of a local schoolmaster, John Francis. Clark later went on to become a choirmaster and to compose many other tunes for churches and Sunday Schools.