Abbotsbury

Abbotsbury is a village and township in the southwestern English county of Dorset. The village has about 500 inhabitants and is located 16 kilometers north-west of Weymouth and 11 km west of Dorchester. It lies on the Jurassic Coast, a distinguished World Heritage section of the south coast of England. The village has an average annual rainfall of 680 mm, the climate is almost frost-free.

Abbotsbury was founded by the Earl of Ilchester, an influential noble family in Dorset, and is first mentioned in 1658. The colonization of the area but goes back at least to the 11th century, when already was a church.

Abbotsbury is located at the end of the Fleet, a limited of the Chesil Beach Lagoon, a bird sanctuary. Typical of Abbotsbury are the well-preserved stone houses. The place is a popular destination for tourists. Advertised the remains of the abbey, the 7 hectares of subtropical gardens of the family Fox Strangway - a garden, founded in 1765, the Fronscheuer and a swan sanctuary. On a hill near the village lies Abbotsbury Castle, an Iron Age fortification.