English Heritage

English Heritage has some fascinating properties in Dorset:

Abbotsbury Abbey Remains – Abbey

Part of a monastic building. Henry VIII ordered its destruction during the Dissolution in 1538.

Christchurch Castle and Norman House – Castle

The castle remains include parts of the keep and the 12th century riverside chamber block or Norman House, a very early example of domestic architecture including a rare Norman chimney.

Fiddleford Manor – Manor house

Small stone manor house. The hall and solar chamber show fine timber roofs.

Jordan Hill Roman Temple – Temple

Foundations of a 4th century Romano-Celtic temple

Kingston Russell Stone Circle – Stone circle

Late Neolithic or early Bronze Age circle of 18 fallen stones, on a hilltop overlooking Abbotsbury and the sea.

Knowlton Church and Earthworks – Henge and Church

Ruined medieval church at the centre of a Neolithic ritual henge earthwork

Maiden Castle – Hill fort

Among the largest and most complex of Iron Age hillforts in Europe

Portland Castle – Device Fort

Built by Henry VIII to defend England, the Castle also played a part in World War I and II.

Sherborne Old Castle – Castle

12th century castle.

St Catherine’s Chapel, Abbotsbury – Chapel

14th-century chapel overlooking Abbotsbury Abbey built by monks as a place of pilgrimage and retreat.

The Nine Stones, Winterbourne Abbas – Stone circle

Now in a wooded glade, this small prehistoric circle of nine standing stones was made around 4,000 years ago. Also known as the Devil’s Nine Stones, the Nine Ladies, or Lady Williams and her Dog

Winterbourne Poor Lot Barrows – Tumuli

44 Bronze Age burial mounds of varying types and sizes, straddling the A35