Bradford Abbas is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in north-west

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, on the border with

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

. The village is south-east of

Yeovil Yeovil () is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England. It is close to Somerset's southern border with Dorset, west of London, south of Bristol, west of Sherborne and east of Taunton. The population of the bui ...

and south-west of

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

. The parish includes the small settlement of Saxon Maybank to the north, and had a population of 975 at the 2011 Census. The name of the village signifies the "Abbot's broad ford" on the River Ivel, the

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

in question being that of Sherborne; the land was given to Sherborne Abbey by King

Alfred the Great Alfred the Great ( ; – 26 October 899) was King of the West Saxons from 871 to 886, and King of the Anglo-Saxons from 886 until his death in 899. He was the youngest son of King Æthelwulf and his first wife Osburh, who both died when Alfr ...

. 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 ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

, one of only four detected in southwest Britain. 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.

Parish Church of St Mary

The oldest part of the church is the chancel, dating from the 12th century, though the main construction of the church is 15th century and was started by William Bradford, Abbot of Sherborne. The tower has many niches on its west face, two containing finely carved original figures. The stone

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

dates from the 15th century, and some of the steps leading to the rood loft are still extant.

Vicars

This is a list of the vicars of St Mary's Church, Bradford Abbas. Since 1984, the title has been Rector of the United Benefice.Names and dates from a noticeboard inside the church.

References

External links

* by Eric Garrett, Oxford Illustrated Press Ltd (1989)
Dorset OPC: Bradford Abbas historical and genealogical resources

Bradford Abbas FC Official Website

Parish Council Website
Villages in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub