|
|
|
Abbotsbury Dorset Photographs
Below are the photos currently available. All images are available in larger versions. This site is updated often so please check back soon.
1 2 3 4 5 Next Page >>
Click for larger version
|
Title: St. Nicholas Church
Place: Abbotsbury
About: St. Nicholas is an attractive church which is built of the golden local stone called Corallian. The present building dates from the fourteenth century but there have been several later additions and ......
Photograph Added: 23rd November 2010
|
Click for larger version
|
Title: Church and Graveyard
Place: Abbotsbury
About: St Nicholas church at Abbotsbury is a beautiful building with a strange claim to fame as its pulpit has two bullet holes left as a result of gun shot during the civil war in 1644.
Photograph Added: 23rd November 2010
|
Click for larger version
|
Title: Abbotsbury Street
Place: Abbotsbury
About: The narrow streets at Abbotsbury are a nightmare for today's transport but in the days of horse and carriage the high pavements were designed for ladies to alight without stepping into the road.
Photograph Added: 23rd November 2010
|
Click for larger version
|
Title: Garden Ornaments
Place: Abbotsbury
About: We could not resist taking this amusing photograph when we spotted these gnomes and other garden ornaments at Abbotsbury.
Photograph Added: 11th November 2010
|
Click for larger version
|
Title: Strangways Hall
Place: Abbotsbury
About: Strangways Hall is located in the Market Square opposite the Ilchester Arms Hotel right in the centre of Abbotsbury, It was the old village school, and it is a handsome and substantial Grade 2 Listed ......
Photograph Added: 11th November 2010
|
1 2 3 4 5 Next Page >>
View area map / aerial photograph.
About Abbotsbury Dorset.
Abbotsbury is located seven and a half miles south west of Dorchester on the B3157. The village lies just behind the Chesil Bank which is nearly sixteen miles of pebble beach stretching from Bridport to Portland. Today this delightful village is famous to visitors for its swannery and tropical gardens.
Abbotsbury has been an important village for over a thousand years and it would probably have become a town had it not been for the dissolution of the monasteries. King Canute’s steward founded an extremely large abbey here with a main church and cloisters surrounded by ancillary buildings. These buildings included dormitories and the refectory where the monks ate their meals. During the reign of Henry VIII the abbey suffered the fate of many at that time and the abbey buildings were acquired by Sir John Strangeways. The Abbey itself is not completely lost as the building was recycled by the locals. People wanting to build their own houses used the old abbey building. Not only did they pinch the stone, almost like a quarry, they took doors, windows and even the odd gargoyle. This has resulted in a lovely continuity in the colour of the stone in the houses and enhanced the appearance of the village.
Abbotsbury must have been a caring village, the high pavements were built in the 19th century to protect pedestrians from the splashes of the stage coaches. Mail coaches often used the coastal route between Weymouth and Bridport and this made the village an important staging point. A lot of the coaches stopped at the Illchester Arms which is indeed a very good example of a 17th century coaching inn.
The bird sanctuary at Abbotsbury is over 600 years old, there is a large colony of Mute Swans at the sanctuary. This swannery is managed but is open to the public and the site has become an important nesting and breeding ground for the swans. From May all through the summer, cygnets can be seen at this sanctuary.
The sub-tropical gardens at Abbotsbury were founded in 1765 by the Countess of Ilchester. It was originally a kitchen garden for the nearby castle. but gardens have now developed into a 20 acre site filled with exotic plants. In 1990 violent storms damaged and destroyed many of the rare specimens and many have since been replaced by younger plants.
Today Abbotsbury has much to offer and it also has a very good supply of tea shops for anyone to enjoy a well earned break.
|
