Compton Abbas

An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West. Originally published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1952.

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'Compton Abbas', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West, (London, 1952) pp. 99-100. British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp99-100 [accessed 19 March 2024]

In this section

34 COMPTON ABBAS (D.d.)

(O.S. 6 in. XXXIX, N.W.)

Compton Abbas is a small parish 6 m. E. of Bridport.

Ecclesiastical

(1) Parish Church of St. Michael stands near the middle of the parish. It has been entirely rebuilt, partly in 1858 and partly in 1867, but contains from the old building the following:—

Fittings—Bell: one by Thomas Purdue, 1665. Chest: In vestry, of iron with churchwarden's name and date 1816. Font: Circular bowl with chamfered under edge, cylindrical stem and double chamfered base, 13th-century, recut. Monuments: On E. wall of N. aisle externally, (1) to John Hardy, 1633, plain tablet; (2) to Elizabeth, wife of John Hardy, 1628, plain tablet. Plate: Pewter dish with initials R.H.I., 18th-century. Seating: In vestry—coffin-stool with turned legs, and top of a second stool, 17th-century.

Earthworks Etc.

(2) Standing Stones, 1,000 yards S.W. of the church, are two in number, one 6 ft. long by 4 ft. high and 1 ft. thick and the second, to the W., 6½ ft. long by 3½ ft. high and 1½ ft. thick. They are 1¾ ft. apart and staggered.

(3) Bowl Barrow, on the W. edge of the parish, 1,520 yards W. of the church, is 32 ft. in diam. and 3 ft. high.

(4) Mound, probably the remains of a barrow, on the N.W. edge of the parish 620 yards N.N.E. of (3), is 50 to 60 ft. in diam. and 3½ ft. high. It has been much disturbed.

(5) Mound, possibly a long barrow, 200 yards W.S.W. of Eggardon Hill Farm and 1,100 yards W. of the church, is about 53 yards long and at most 18 yards wide and 5 ft. high. It has been much disturbed and the outline obscured. Its axis lies roughly E. and W.

(6) Celtic Field-System along the scarp of a reentrant on the S.E. of Eggardon Hill, ½ m. N.W. of the church, covers an area of about 65 acres, mostly along the 650 ft. contour. It has well marked scarps.

(7) Dyke and cultivation-system, the former is on the W. edge of the parish 50 yards S.W. of (3). The dyke extends across a low ridge for about 80 yards in a well-defined state and can be traced for a further 130 yards; it consists of a bank with a ditch on the S.E. side; the bank rises 3 ft. above the bottom of the ditch. There are traces of a cultivation-system, perhaps of Celtic origin, in the immediate neighbourhood.

(8) Lynchets, on a N.W. slope ¼ m. N.W. of the church, form a series of four main terraces extending for about 240 yards.

(9) Lynchets, on a W. slope 300 yards E. of the church, consist of two and three terraces divided into two sections by a cross-dyke; they extend for about 350 yards.