Bradford Abbas

Bradford Abbas
Church Road, Bradford Abbas
Bradford Abbas is located in Dorset
Bradford Abbas
Bradford Abbas
Location within Dorset
Population975 (2011 Census)
OS grid referenceST587144
Civil parish
  • Bradford Abbas
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSHERBORNE
Postcode districtDT9
Dialling code01935
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°55′41″N 2°35′17″W / 50.928°N 2.588°W / 50.928; -2.588

Bradford Abbas is a village and civil parish in north-west Dorset, England, on the border with Somerset. The village is 3 miles (5 km) south-east of Yeovil and 5 miles (8 km) south-west of Sherborne. The parish includes the small settlement of Saxon Maybank to the north, and had a population of 975 at the 2011 Census.[1]

The name of the village signifies the "Abbot's broad ford" on the River Ivel, the abbot in question being that of Sherborne; the land was given to Sherborne Abbey by King Alfred the Great.

In the dry summer of 2010 cropmarks in sun-parched fields of barley, visible from the air, revealed the existence of a previously unsuspected 1st-century temporary Roman camp, one of only four detected in southwest Britain.[2] In the 19th century five Roman kilns were found in a field to the east of the village. Also found at the site were pottery, roof slates, bracelets and querns.[3]

  1. ^ "Area: Bradford Abbas (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
  2. ^ English Heritage reported in BBC News, "Dry weather reveals archaeological 'cropmarks' in fields", 30 August 2010 accessed 7 September 2010.
  3. ^ "'Bradford Abbas', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 30-34". British History Online. University of London & History of Parliament Trust. November 2013. Retrieved 4 June 2014.