The village was significantly developed by the Guest family of Canford Manor, featuring a mixture of thatch and brick buildings, now mostly serving as residences for teaching staff.

Lady Charlotte Guest, of Canford Manor, had become heavily involved in the estate and had commissioned the construction of three blocks of terraced cottages.

[4] Under the First Lord Wimborne, and his wife Cornelia who inherited the manor in 1880, the work to convert Canford Magna into a model village was completed.

The favoured season for this tours was Autumn when the gables of the cottages were covered in scarlet Virginia creeper and the great chestnuts that lined the streets were in colour.

The church was much expanded during the Norman period in the perpendicular gothic style, using dark local stone, with the North tower being added circa 1180.