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Milton Abbas is a planned village in Dorset that was created in the late eighteenth century as part of a significant landscape improvement scheme. The original medieval settlement of Milton Abbey, which had developed around the Benedictine monastery founded in the tenth century, was relocated between 1780 and 1786 by Joseph Damer, first Earl of Dorchester, who wished to create an ornamental parkland around his house. The new village was laid out with a single broad street lined with matching cottages in a uniform architectural style, representing an ambitious example of estate village planning during the Georgian period. The scheme resulted in the abandonment of the historic town centre, whose earthworks and archaeological remains survive as evidence of the medieval and early modern settlement that preceded the eighteenth-century reorganisation.
Deserted town of Milton Abbas is a scheduled monument protected by Historic England under reference 1002434. View the official record →
Milton Abbas is a planned village in Dorset that was created in the late eighteenth century as part of a significant landscape improvement scheme. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic England (NHLE) under reference 1002434.
Deserted town of Milton Abbas is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic England (NHLE) — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in England. The official designation reference is 1002434.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Bell barrow on Affpuddle Heath, 800m south east of Wood Barn (9.5 km), Bowl barrow on Affpuddle Heath, 140m south east of Cull-peppers Dish (9.5 km), Bowl barrow on Affpuddle Heath, 650m south east of Wood Barn (9.6 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 15 strands of Deserted town of Milton Abbas's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Deserted town of Milton Abbas stands on Grey Chalk Subgroup, bedrock that formed in the Cenomanian. The rock here is chalk.