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Bradford Abbas is a village and civil parish in north-west Dorset, England, on the border with Somerset. The village is south-east of Yeovil and south-west of Sherborne. The parish includes the small settlement of Saxon Maybank to the north, and had a population of 975 at the 2011 Census.
The name of the village signifies the "Abbot's broad ford" on the River Ivel, the abbot in question being that of Sherborne; the land was given to Sherborne Abbey by King Alfred the Great.
In the dry summer of 2010 in sun-parched fields of barley, visible from the air, revealed the existence of a previously unsuspected 1st-century temporary Roman camp, one of only four detected in southwest Britain.English Heritage reported in BBC News, "Dry weather reveals archaeological 'cropmarks' in fields", 30 August 2010 accessed 7 September 2010. In the 19th century five Roman Britain kilns were found in a field to the east of the village. Also found at the site were pottery, roof slates, bracelets and Quern-stone.
The tower has many niches on its west face, two containing finely carved original figures. The stone rood screen dates from the 15th century, and some of the steps leading to the rood loft are still extant.
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