Monument record MWX272 - Abbotsbury Swannery

The Abbotsbury Swannery. Mentioned in extracts from the Court Rolls of the Manor of Abbotsbury AD 1393 and later in a Latin Memoranda Roll Exchequer Lord Treasurers Remembrance dated 1591, now in the Public Records Office. <1>

The Swannery, dating from the Middle Ages (first mentioned in 1393), is an enclosed area adjacent to the brackish lagoon 3/4 mile south of the village. In it are a roughly square pond, at any rate partly artificial, and a duck decoy, now with three pipes first mentioned in 1655-6. <3>

Name centred at SY 575840. The extent of the Swannery in its present form is as delineated. Its origin is attributed to the natural growth of certain grasses. No maps could be obtained during field investigation giving the extent of the Swannery as it was in medieval times. The area is now preserved as a Swannery and wild fowl sanctuary and is tended by a swanherd. "It is estimated that 800 swans inhabit the Abbotsbury Swannery. Natural grasses which grow here attract the swans". <4>

Cooper, T, 1895, Pictoral Guide to Abbotsbury (Monograph). SDO21282.

Fair, John and Moxom, Don, 1993, Abbotsbury and the Swannery (Monograph). SDO21281.

<1> Ordnance Survey, Ordnance Survey Map 6in, 1903 (Map). SWX1540.

Abbotsbury Swannery (NAT)

<2> Rt Hon The Earl of Ilchester, 1933, The Abbotsbury Swannery (Article in serial). SWX1694.

<3> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments England, 1952, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume I (West) (Monograph). SDO97.

<4> Swatridge, G C, Various, Field Investigators Comments GCS, F1 GCS 23-MAR-55 (Unpublished document). SWX1169.

<4.1> Lexter, Oral: Mr Lexter (occupier), 8 West Street, Abbotsbury. Swanherd (Verbal communication). SWX8428.

<5> National Record of the Historic Environment, 450561 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 2:48PM