Abbeys & priories · South West England
Cerne Abbey
In or near Cerne Abbas.
Cerne Abbey — abbey in Cerne Abbas, United Kingdom.
Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence
Plan your visit
- Typical visit
- 45 min–1.5 h
- Nearest railway station
- Maiden Newton · 7.6 km
- Free entry
- Family-friendly
- Limited wheelchair access
Getting there & planning your visit
Cerne Abbey is located in Dorset, with the postcode DT2 7GY. The nearest railway station is Maiden Newton, which is 7.6 km away. Admission is free, but wheelchair access is limited.
About
Cerne Abbey is an abbey, priory, or monastic site in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to AD 901. Heritage designation: scheduled monument. Affiliated with Catholicism. Wikidata describes it as: "abbey in Cerne Abbas, United Kingdom". Coordinates: 50.8118°, -2.4743°.
Photo gallery
Heritage listing
Cerne Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 987 in the town now called Cerne Abbas, Dorset, by Æthelmær the Stout.
From the Historic England List Entry under OGL v3.
Summary from the official site
Cerne Abbey is home to the Cerne Abbas Giant, an ancient chalk figure sculpted into the hillside, measuring 180ft tall. The site also features a chalk grassland that supports rare plants and wildlife, making it a place of both historical and ecological significance.
Read more on the official property page.
Protected designations
- Site of Special Scientific Interest: Black Hill Down SSSI
- Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Dorset
Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.
From the Wikipedia article
Cerne Abbey was a Benedictine monastery founded in 987 in the town now called Cerne Abbas, Dorset, by Æthelmær the Stout.
Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.
Background
History
The abbey was founded in 987 by Æthelmær the Stout. Ælfric of Eynsham, the most prolific writer in Old English, spent time at the abbey as a monk and teacher. King Cnut plundered this monastery during an attack upon the town, but afterwards became a benefactor of it. By the time of the Domesday Book, the abbey had added substantially to its endowment. to the veneration of Saint Eadwold of Cerne, a 9th-century hermit reputedly a brother of Edmund, king of East Anglia. Eadwold lived as a hermit on a hill about four miles from Cerne. The later history appears to have been relatively uneventful; A History of the County of Dorset says that its history is "perhaps the least eventful of any of the…
Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Coordinates
- 50.8118, -2.4743
- District
- Dorset
- Parish
- Cerne Abbas
- Postcode
- DT2 7GY
- Parliamentary constituency
- West Dorset
- Nearest railway station
- Maiden Newton — 7.6 km
- Opening
- Daily Dawn - Dusk
- Official site
- www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Sources
- wikidata: Q2820556 (CC0)
- wikipedia: Cerne Abbey (CC BY-SA 4.0)
- commons: Abbots Porch - Cerne Abbey - geograph.org.uk - 708303.jpg (CC BY-SA 4.0)
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Frequently asked questions
- Where is Cerne Abbey?
- Cerne Abbey is in South-East England, United Kingdom (postcode DT2 7GY), in the parish of Cerne Abbas.
- What is Cerne Abbey?
- Cerne Abbey — abbey in Cerne Abbas, United Kingdom.
- How do I get to Cerne Abbey?
- The nearest railway station is Maiden Newton, about 7.6 km away. Drivers can use postcode DT2 7GY.
- When was Cerne Abbey built?
- Dates from the Anglo-Saxon period.
- Is Cerne Abbey a listed building?
- Cerne Abbey is officially recognised as scheduled monument listed.
- Is Cerne Abbey a protected site?
- Yes — Cerne Abbey is part of the Black Hill Down SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Dorset National Landscape (AONB).
- Is Cerne Abbey free to visit?
- Yes, Cerne Abbey is free to enter.
- How do I get to Cerne Abbey?
- The nearest railway station is Maiden Newton, about 7.6 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode DT2 7GY.