Compton Abbas
Encyclopedia
Compton Abbas is a village in north Dorset
, England
, situated in the Blackmore Vale
next to Cranborne Chase
, on the A350 road three miles south of Shaftesbury
. The village has a population
of 200 (2001). The village gives its name to a nearby airfield
on the downs
. The name Compton Abbas is derived from the Saxon nomenclature "cumb-ton" (meaning 'village in a narrow valley'), and "abbas" refers to the abbey at Shaftesbury (the land was owned by the abbess). The church, St. Mary's, was built in 1866 to replace the older structure which was more remote from the village.
The tower of the Church of St Mary in East Compton is a Grade I listed building.
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, situated in the Blackmore Vale
Blackmore Vale
The Blackmore Vale is a vale, or wide valley, in north Dorset, and to a lesser extent south Somerset and southwest Wiltshire in southern England. The vale is part of the Stour valley...
next to Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase
Cranborne Chase is a Chalk plateau in central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. The plateau is part of the English Chalk Formation and is adjacent to Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs in the north, the Dorset Downs to the south west and the...
, on the A350 road three miles south of Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
. The village has a population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
of 200 (2001). The village gives its name to a nearby airfield
Compton Abbas Airfield
Compton Abbas Airfield is located south of Shaftesbury, Dorset, England.Compton Abbas Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee...
on the downs
Downland
A downland is an area of open chalk hills. This term is especially used to describe the chalk countryside in southern England. Areas of downland are often referred to as Downs....
. The name Compton Abbas is derived from the Saxon nomenclature "cumb-ton" (meaning 'village in a narrow valley'), and "abbas" refers to the abbey at Shaftesbury (the land was owned by the abbess). The church, St. Mary's, was built in 1866 to replace the older structure which was more remote from the village.
The tower of the Church of St Mary in East Compton is a Grade I listed building.