place

Bradford Abbas

Dorset geography stubsVillages in Dorset
Post Office and cottages Bradford Abbas geograph.org.uk 1276376
Post Office and cottages Bradford Abbas geograph.org.uk 1276376

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.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. 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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Bradford Abbas (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.928 ° E -2.588 °
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Address


DT9 6RX , Bradford Abbas
England, United Kingdom
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Post Office and cottages Bradford Abbas geograph.org.uk 1276376
Post Office and cottages Bradford Abbas geograph.org.uk 1276376
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Battle of Babylon Hill

The battle of Babylon Hill was an indecisive skirmish that took place between Royalist and Parliamentarian forces near Yeovil, in South West England, on 7 September 1642, during the early stages of the First English Civil War. The engagement occurred after a failed Parliamentarian siege of nearby Royalist-held Sherborne. After the Parliamentarians had retreated to Yeovil, a force of around 350 Royalists was sent to reconnoitre their movements. Under the command of Sir Ralph Hopton, the Royalist detachment established itself on Babylon Hill, on the outskirts of Yeovil. Around half an hour before sunset, the Royalists decided to withdraw and began marching their infantry off the hill. As they were doing so, they spotted Parliamentarian soldiers approaching, and Hopton hurriedly recalled the infantry and set his men to meet the attack. The battle became chaotic, mostly due to the inexperience of the soldiers involved. The Parliamentarian force, which also numbered around 350, made a three-pronged cavalry attack, which the Royalists were able to repel, though sections of both forces were routed. In the confusion, they were eventually able to pull back under the cover of darkness. Neither side suffered heavy casualties; although both sides claimed they had killed sixty or more, a modern estimate suggests that the Royalists lost around twenty, and the Parliamentarians five. The Parliamentarians subsequently withdrew from Yeovil to Dorchester to the south, while around two weeks later the Royalists retreated from the area entirely.