Abbotsbury Castle

The Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is a visitor attraction near the village of Abbotsbury, Dorset, southern England. They are Grade I listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.The garden originates in 1765. In the late eighteenth century, the Fox-Strangeways family (the Earls of Ilchester) built a new house on the location; when it was burnt down in 1913, they returned to their family seat at Melbury House, but the walled garden was maintained—it remains in the ownership of the family. Since then, particularly after the contributions of the 4th Earl of Ilchester, the gardens have developed into an 8 hectares (20 acres) site with exotic plants, many of which were newly discovered species when they were first introduced. There are formal and informal gardens, with woodland walks and walled gardens; in addition, the gardens also contain certain "zones" that exhibit plants from different geographical areas.The gardens are in a wooded and sheltered valley, leading down towards the sea at Chesil Beach; this combination produces a microclimate in which more delicate plants than are usually grown in southern England can flourish, and plants that would otherwise need a greenhouses can be grown outside. However, in spite of its location, the plants remain vulnerable to bad winters, and the frost that they can bring; in 1990, violent storms damaged many of the rare specimens, which have since been replaced by younger plants. In 2010, Abbotsbury employed the chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb to carve a 200-year-old oak tree that had fallen after a particularly bad winter. The gardens won the Historic Houses Association/Christie’s Garden of the Year award for 2012, the first time that a subtropical garden has gained the award.

West Bexington is a village in south-west Dorset, England, sited just behind the Chesil Beach about 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Bridport. It forms part of the civil parish of Puncknowle. The coast here is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.

St Catherine's Chapel is a small chapel situated on a hill above the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. It is dedicated to Saint Catherine. It is now in the guardianship of English Heritage, and became a Grade I listed building in 1956. The chapel is also scheduled together with the field systems and quarries on the hill.The chapel is best seen from the viewpoint on the B3157 Abbotsbury to Bridport road, with Chesil Beach in the background. The medieval strip lynchets etched into the side of the hill are known locally as the Chapel Rings.

Abbotsbury Blind Lane (grid reference SY576856) is a 0.4 hectares (0.99 acres) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset, notified in 1986; this area is slightly smaller than when it was first notified in 1977. It is also a Geological Conservation Review (GCR) site.

Puncknowle ( PUN-əl) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England, situated on the southern slopes of the Bride Valley approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Bridport and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Chesil Beach on the Jurassic Coast. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the coastal settlement of West Bexington to the south—had a population of 466.Puncknowle village has a Jacobean manor house, which in 1906 Sir Frederick Treves described as "one of the daintiest and most beautiful manor houses in the county". The Napier family, who came to Puncknowle from Merchiston in Scotland, were lords of the manor for three centuries, until the early 18th century. In the early 19th century the manor was occupied by Colonel Shrapnel, inventor of the shrapnel shell.Puncknowle parish church, dedicated to St Mary, has a 12th-century chancel arch and west tower, though the latter was altered in 1678. The nave and the rest of the chancel were largely rebuilt at various dates in the 19th century. The church contains memorials to the Napiers and has an unusual font, composed of a Norman bowl on top of another font from West Bexington church, which French forces destroyed in the 16th century.There is a single public house in the village called The Crown Inn, and many holiday properties.

Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical gardens, is owned by the Ilchester Estate, which owns 61 square kilometres (15,000 acres) of land in Dorset. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 481. The coastline within the parish of Abbotsbury includes a section of 18-mile (29 km) long Chesil Beach that is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site. Abbotsbury is known for its swannery, subtropical gardens and surviving abbey buildings, including St Catherine's Chapel, a 14th-century pilgrimage chapel that stands on a hill between the village and the coast.

Kingston Russell Stone Circle, also known as the Gorwell Circle, is a stone circle located between the villages of Abbotsbury and Littlebredy in the south-western English county of Dorset. Archaeologists believe that it was likely erected during the Bronze Age. The Kingston Russell ring is part of a tradition of stone circle construction that spread throughout much of Britain, Ireland, and Brittany during the Late Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, over a period between 3,300 and 900 BCE. The purpose of such monuments is unknown, although archaeologists speculate that they were likely religious sites, with the stones perhaps having supernatural associations for those who built the circles. A number of these circles were built in the area around modern Dorset, typically being constructed from sarsen stone and being smaller than those found elsewhere. The Kingston Russell ring is the largest of those in Dorset, measuring 24 by 27 metres (79 feet by 89 feet) in diameter and containing eighteen sarsen stones arranged in an oval shape. The site has not been excavated or been subject to in-depth archaeological investigation.

St Nicholas' Church is a Church of England church in Abbotsbury, Dorset, England. The earliest parts of the church date to the 14th century origin, with later alterations and extensions over the following centuries, including the construction of the west tower and north chapel in the 15th century. The church underwent restoration in 1807–08, 1885 and 1930.The church's porch contains the effigy of an abbot of Abbotsbury Abbey. It was discovered on the site of the Abbey's church, St Peter's, in 1778, and has been given an approximate date of 1200. The Jacobean pulpit contains two bullet holes stemming from a fight in 1664, during the English Civil War, when Parliamentarians besieged Royalists at the church.St Nicholas' has been Grade I listed since 1956. In 2015, the World War I memorial in the churchyard, dating to around 1920, became Grade II listed.

Kingston Russell House is a large mansion house and manor near Long Bredy in Dorset, England, west of Dorchester. The present house dates from the late 17th century but in 1730 was clad in a white Georgian stone facade. The house was restored in 1913, and at the same time the gardens were laid out.

Abbotsbury Abbey, dedicated to Saint Peter, was a Benedictine monastery in the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. The abbey was founded in the 11th century by King Cnut's thegn Orc and his wife Tola, who handsomely endowed the monastery with lands in the area. The abbey prospered and became a local centre of power, controlling eight manor houses and villages. During the later Middle Ages, the abbey suffered much misfortune. In the time of the dissolution of the monasteries, the last abbot surrendered the abbey and the site became the property of Sir Giles Strangways. Today, a small part of the former Abbey estate, including the abbey's remains, and those of the nearby St Catherine's Chapel, are in the guardianship of English Heritage.

Long Bredy is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in the valley of the small River Bride, beneath chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 208.The environs of Long Bredy have some prehistoric history, including a burial chamber known as The Grey Mare and her Colts. The village itself is thought to have been established around the 9th century, and in 1086 was recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Langebride', which would have been pronounced 'Langabridda'. To the east of the village is Kingston Russell house, a 17th-century mansion. Bottle Knap Cottage, owned by the National Trust, is a Grade II listed building. In May 2013 human skeletal remains were discovered near the cottage which dated back to approximately 800 to 600 BC, according to radiocarbon dating. Martin Papworth, an archaeologist with the National Trust, said, "The remains are of three teenage or young adults, probably crouched, are all from around the period when the first iron was being used in this country. No other burials in Dorset have been identified from this time."

Litton Cheney is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies 9 miles (14 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited beneath chalk hills in the valley of the small River Bride. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 359.On Pins Knoll, to the west of the village, was once an Iron Age settlement, excavated in 1959. On the same site, in the 4th century, there was also a Romano-British building.The parish church of St Mary was substantially restored in 1878, though it retains features—notably the tower, chancel arch and parts of the nave and porch—from the 14th and 15th centuries and has a font bowl which is probably Norman; the site originated at this time or earlier.From 1953 until 1979, The Old Rectory was the home of noted English engraver, designer, typographer and painter Reynolds Stone. Litton Cheney has a small primary school 'Thorner's Church of England VA Primary School'. The school has a 'Good' OFSTED rating.