The manor house

Cerne Abbas is an old village located in the valley of the River Cerne, between steep chalk downland in the middle of Dorset, England. Grid reference: ST665012. The village had a population of 732 at the 2001 census, a figure which has fallen from 780 in 1998. Cerne Abbas manor house, Dorset. ... Cerne Abbas manor house, Dorset. ... Masouleh village, Gilan Province, Iran. ... Fljótsdalur in East Iceland, a rather flat valley In geology, a valley (also called a vale or dale) is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. ... The River Cerne is a ten mile long river in Dorset, England, which rises in the Chalk hills of the Dorset Downs at Minterne Magna, flows down a valley through Cerne Abbas and Charminster, and flows into the River Frome in Dorchester. ... The Needles, situated on the Isle Of Wight, are part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation. ... A downland is an area of open chalk upland. ... Dorset (pronounced DOR-sit or [dɔ.sət], and sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the south-west of England, on the English Channel coast. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... Year 2001 (MMI) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 2001 Gregorian calendar). ... Image:1870 census Lindauer Weber 01. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ...

The village of Cerne Abbas grew up around the great Benedictine abbey, which was founded there in AD 987. For more than 500 years, the abbey dominated the area. The abbey was surrendered to Henry VIII in 1539 with the Dissolution of the Monasteries and was largely destroyed; a portion of the Abbot's Porch and Abbey guesthouse remain. St Augustine's Well, reputedly blessed by the saint, also remains. St Mary's Church, built by the abbey for the parish in the late 13th century, is in the heart of the parish and retains many original features. For the college, see Benedictine College. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ... For other uses of the term dissolution see Dissolution. ...

In the centuries after the Dissolution, the village thrived as a small market town. Its wealth was partly generated by brewing, its underground water making it famous for the quality of its beer, which was sold as far away as London and was even exported to the Americas. At one time, Cerne Abbas had 14 public houses, serving visitors and a population of about 1,500. Waterpower also gave rise to milling, tanning, silk weaving, glove and hat making and many other small industries. The market town is a medieval phenomenon. ...

The coming of the railways in the 19th century bypassed Cerne and the village went into decline. By 1906, the population had halved and many of the houses had fallen into disrepair. However, in 1919, the village was sold off by the Pitt-Rivers estate, which had owned it, and the village now has a local school, a post office, three remaining historic public houses, tearooms and a number of other shops. Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers (14th April, 1827–1900) was an English army officer, ethnologist, and archaeologist. ...

Cerne Abbas giant

The Cerne Abbas Giant

Main article: Cerne Abbas Giant

Cerne Abbas is a picturesque tourist village with many attractions, including the river, streets lined with stone houses and the Abbey. The most famous attraction is the Cerne Abbas giant, a 55 metre (180ft) naked figure carved into the chalk hillside. The giant, owned by the National Trust, is thought by many to be an Iron Age fertility symbol but, as it is unlikely that the monks of Cerne Abbey would have tolerated such a figure and with no records before the 17th century, this cannot be confirmed. Many scholars now think that it was created in the mid-17th century, and is possibly a cartoon of Oliver Cromwell as the Greek-Roman semigod Hercules.^{[citation needed]} There is evidence, however, that there were Iron Age settlements on the downs nearby. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 800 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (2592 × 1944 pixel, file size: 1. ... Layout of the giant as seen from directly above The Cerne Abbas giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant (rude meaning naked), is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester... A tourist boat travels the River Seine in Paris, France Tourism can be defined as the act of travel for the purpose of recreation, and the provision of services for this act. ... Cerne Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 987 AD in the town now called Cerne Abbas. ... Layout of the giant as seen from directly above The Cerne Abbas giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant (rude meaning naked), is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester... The standard of the National Trust The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as The National Trust, is a British preservation organization. ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... Fertility is the natural capability of giving life. ... (16th century - 17th century - 18th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 17th century was that century which lasted from 1601-1700. ... Oliver Cromwell (25 April 1599 – 3 September 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. ... For other uses, see Hercules (disambiguation). ...

Literary References

An old doorway in Cerne

• Cerne Abbas features in Thomas Hardy's Wessex as "Abbots Cernel".
• School of the Night, a mystery by Judith Cook set in Elizabethan England, contains scenes set in Cerne Abbas, and mentions the Cerne Abbas Giant.

Thomas Hardy redirects here. ... For the helicopter, see Westland Wessex. ... Layout of the giant as seen from directly above The Cerne Abbas giant, also referred to as the Rude Man or the Rude Giant (rude meaning naked), is a hill figure of a giant naked man on a hillside near the village of Cerne Abbas, to the north of Dorchester...

References

External links

• Community website
• Cerne Abbas photos and articles
• Census data

Photographs:

• Images of Dorset: Cerne Abbas
• Photographs of Cerne Abbas and the Cerne Giant
• Pictures of Cerne Abbas
• Photographs and Description
• More on the Giant

Coordinates: 50.80938° N 2.47682° W Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...