Pictures of England

Search:

Historic Towns & Picturesque Villages

Village Church

Castle Acre

in the county of Norfolk

Hampton Court Way Bridge (Hampton Court Palace is just across the river to the right)

East Molesey

in the county of Surrey

Pictures of Cerne Abbas

a Picturesque Village in the county of Dorset

About Cerne Abbas

Interestingly, it is said that the first bootees worn by Queen Victoria as a young child, came from Cerne, so too in earlier day's did boots worn by Sir Walter Raliegh and this fact indicates that at one time Cerne had an important boot and shoe making industry.
But it is not for this that this delightful area is famous, more is owed to the Benedictine Abbey around which the village grew up beneath the shadow of the the Giants Hill with it's 'huge' chalk figure of a man cut into the turf of the hill. The 180ft chalk giant is said to date back to before the arrival of the Romans.

Cerne Abbas is mentioned in the Domesday Book, the Monastry was founded much earlier on in the 10th-century. To-day, all that remains of this once great Abbey is the large Porch thought to originally be the entrance to the Abbot's dining room. The village itself is a delightful mixture of thatched, stone and colour-washed cottages of which good examples can be seen in Long Street. There are some fine black and white half timbered buildings and Abbey Farm is a handsome gabled tudor building.

Many facts and legends surround this pleasant town; it is believed that the quality of the water here produced good beer; in 1883 the village supported fourteen inns and one assumes the 'water' must have been very good indeed. Another story tells of hard hats being made here during the 19th-century that were so strong you could jump on them. Perhaps the most curious of all is the legend from the early 1800's when women slept on the giants hill at night as a cure for infertility, one supposes though, that this only occured in high summer!

Cerne Abbas is in a beautiful region of England and is but a few miles north of the town of Dorchester and a stone's throw from the superb Weymouth bay coastline. You will find much to see and do, both Dorchester and Weymoth have excellent museums, there is a beautiful garden at Kingston Maurward and a short distance from here you will find Thomas Hardy's cottage, now owned by the National Trust and open to the public. You will enjoy your time in this attractive and very English area and of the memories you take home, the abiding one will surely be of the huge giant guarding a ruinous Abbey.

Recommended towns & villages near Cerne Abbas

Minterne Magna

Minterne Magna (22 Pictures) in the county of Dorset

(2.1 miles, 3.3 km, direction N of Cerne Abbas)

..

The Sydling Valley, Dorset

Sydling St Nicholas (22 Pictures) a Picturesque Village in the county of Dorset

(2.2 miles, 3.5 km, direction SW of Cerne Abbas)

This is a particularly scenic village lying deep in a chalk-stream valley between open downs. Every approach to it is beautiful, whether crossing the hills from Cerne Abbas or Maiden Newton, or coming up the waters of the River Cerne between meadows flooded with spring lambs and ponies...

Thatched cottage Dorset

Dorchester (86 Pictures) a Historic Market Town in the county of Dorset

(6.6 miles, 10.6 km, direction S of Cerne Abbas)

Dorchester is the county town of Dorset and is the heart of Thomas Hardy's Wessex. On the outskirts of the town you will find Hardy’s birthplace and family home in Higher.....

Thatched cottage

Melbury Osmond (3 Pictures) a Picturesque Village in the county of Dorset

(6.8 miles, 11.0 km, direction NW of Cerne Abbas)

A long, winding lane, flanked by grassy banks covered in fern and wild flowers, leads to the picture postcard village of Melbury Osmond..

Athelhampton House, Dorset

Athelhampton (3 Pictures) in the county of Dorset

(7.9 miles, 12.8 km, direction SE of Cerne Abbas)

Athelhampton lies close to the little River Piddle which almost entirely encircles Athelhampton House which was built in the 15th-century by Sir William Martyn who was granted the lands and a license to build upon them by King Henry VII in the year 1483...

All towns & villages in Dorset
Complete A to Z of towns & villages in England

Nearby attractions..

Cerne Giant in Cerne Abbas, Dorset.

Cerne Abbas Giant (2 Pictures)

(0.6 miles, 1.0 km)

This magnificent figure cut into the turf of a chalk hillside is best viewed from the north of the village. He is known as "The.....

The Roman Town House, Dorchester, Dorset

Roman Town House (1 Pictures)

(6.5 miles, 10.4 km, direction S)

The Roman Town House was a discovery of the 1930's. From excavations beneath the ground came a rich feast of Roman history that.....

The Keep Military Museum, Dorchester. Dorset

The Keep Military Museum (15 Pictures)

(6.5 miles, 10.5 km, direction S)

This exciting keep is the home of the Military Museum of Devon and Dorset. Here visitors with a keen interest in all things.....

Thomas Hardy's cottage in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset

Hardy's Cottage (4 Pictures)

(6.6 miles, 10.6 km, direction SE)

Home of poet and novelist Thomas Hardy until the age of 34. Under the Greenwood Tree and Far from the Madding Crowd were.....

Athelhampton House, Dorset

Athelhampton House (10 Pictures)

(7.6 miles, 12.2 km, direction SE)

Athelhampton House is a fine example of a 15th Century house nestling in deepest Dorset...

The Nine Stones, Stone Circle in Winterbourne Abbas, Dorset

The Nine Stones (1 Pictures)

(7.7 miles, 12.4 km, direction SW)

..

Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle (10 Pictures)

(7.7 miles, 12.4 km, direction S)

The finest Iron Age hillfort in Europe, Maiden Castle is the size of 50 football pitches and was first built in 600BC over the.....


All attractions in Cerne Abbas
All attractions in Dorset
Complete A to Z of attractions in England