Abbotsbury

Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is located around 7+1⁄2 miles (12 km) west southwest of Dorchester and 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. In the 2021 census the civil parish had a population of 451. Abbotsbury has been described as a tourism honeypot, known for its picturesque historic buildings and thatched cottages, its variety of tourist attractions, and as a gateway to the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site and Dorset National Landscape. 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. The coastline within the parish includes a section of Chesil Beach, and the South West Coast Path and Macmillan Way long-distance footpaths pass through the village. The Ilchester Estate owns much of the village, including the swannery and subtropical gardens. The estate owns 61 square kilometres (15,000 acres) of land in Dorset.