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Cerne Abbas
A small, compact village nestling in a valley bottom in the chalk downs to the north of Dorchester – seen here in early January with a dusting of snow still remaining on the north facing slopes of the surrounding hills. A once flourishing town, with a substantial abbey, it appears to have steadily declined in importance from The Dissolution onwards. These days a very popular tourist destination, in part for the many historical buildings but primarily for the 'Giant' carved into the turf on the hillside to the north of the village.
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The age of the Giant is unknown as too is its purpose or significance, the existence of this provocative hill carving only being recorded in documents from the mid-18th century onwards. The distinctive appearance of the sculpture suggests possible links to fertility rites or rituals.
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A further gallery on this site takes you through some of the private gardens in the village, on a mid-summer's day In the top row of pictures:
In the bottom row of pictures:
Nearby locations that also feature in galleries on this site: More views of Dorset in January Other sites on the webThe National Gardens Scheme: check for dates when gardens in this area are open to the public The Dorset Page: Cerne Abbas – local information and links to further resources on the web Maps of the area on streetmap.co.uk: 1:50,000 – detail, 1:250,000 – locality and route to get there
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