Cerne Abbas

50º49N 2º29W, pop (2000e) 800. Village in Dorset, S England, UK; 10 km/6 mi N of Dorchester; ruins of 10th-c abbey where Ælfric was abbot; tithe barn (14th-c), church (15th-c); famous tourist attraction is the Cerne Giant, a 45 m/150 ft high figure cut into the chalk downs overlooking the village.

Cerne Abbas is an old village located in the valley of the River Cerne, between steep chalk downland in the middle of Dorset, England.

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 180ft naked male 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 Abby would have tolerated such a figure and with no records before the 17th century, this cannot be confirmed.

The village of Cerne Abbas grew up around the great Benedictine abbey, which was founded there in 987 AD. 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.

In the centuries after the Dissolution, the village thrived as a small market town. At one time, Cerne Abbas had 14 public houses, serving visitors and a population of about 1,500.

The coming of the railways in the 19th century bypassed Cerne and the village went into decline. 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.

Cerne Abbas features in Thomas Hardy's Wessex as "Abbots Cernel".