ABBOTSBURY, a parish (formerly a market-town) in the hundred of
UGGSCOMBE, Dorchester division of the county of DORSET, 8 miles
(W. S. W.) from Dorchester, and 128 (S.W. by W.) from London,
containing 907 inhabitants. The name of this place is evidently
derived from its ancient possessors, the abbots of the monastery
of St. Peter, supposed to have been founded, in 1044, by Orcus,
or Orking, steward of the household to Canute the Great, and
Tola his wife, for monks of the Benedictine order. It occupied a
large extent of ground; and its revenue at the dissolution was
£485. 3. 5.; there are still some remains, consisting of a
gateway and portions of the walls. At the dissolution it was
granted to Sir Giles Strangeways, and on its site was erected a
mansion, which, having been garrisoned for the king in 1644, was
attacked by Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, and burnt to the ground.
The church was also occupied by a party of royalists, who
surrendered before it sustained any damage. The town, situated
in a valley surrounded by lofty hills, near the sea-shore,
consists of three streets, partially paved, and is well
supplied with water; the western part of it was consumed by fire
in 1706. Fishing is the chief occupation of the inhabitants,
great quantities of mackarel being taken on the sea-coast. The
weaving of cotton, which was introduced here about thirty years
since, has of late much declined. The market, which was on
Thursday, has fallen into disuse; a fair, for sheep and toys, is
held on the 10th of July. The living is a discharged vicarage,
in the archdeaconry of Dorset, and diocese of Bristol, rated in
the king's books at £10, endowed-with £600 private benefaction,
and £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Earl of
Ilchester. The church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, is a large
handsome structure, in the later style of English architecture,
with a square embattled tower, and is supposed to have contained
the remains of the founder of the abbey and his wife, which were
removed hither from the conventual church at the dissolution. A
school, originally founded for twenty boys, was further endowed,
in 1754, by Mrs. Homer, with £21 per annum, for instructing ten
additional boys. A charity school for clothing and educating
twenty girls, instituted a few years since, is supported by the
Countess of Ilchester, who has also established an infant
school. St. Catherine's chapel, supposed to have been erected in
the reign of Edward IV., stands on an eminence south-west of the
town, and serves as a landmark; it is built wholly of freestone
dug out of the hill on which it is situated; the roof is finely
groined, and on each side is a handsome porch. Between this and
the shore is a large decoy for wild fowl, and near it an
extensive swannery, the property of the Earl of Ilchester. About
a mile and a half to the west of Abbotsbury is an ancient
intrenchment, occupying an area of nearly twenty acres, and
near the town is a cromlech. The stones in the walls of the
houses, which are obtained from quarries near the sea-shore,
contain vast quantities of shells of marine animals.