In November 2023 we travelled to the ancestral home of the Paulley family, the quaint, quintessentially English village of Cerne Abbas in Dorset, south-west of London. The name Cerne Abbas comes from the River Cerne and the original Benedictine abbey that was founded there in 987. The abbey was subsequently destroyed by decree of Henry VIII when abbeys were eradicated from England as King Henry abandoned the Catholic church and created the Church of England. The main church in the village, now Anglican, is dedicated to St. Mary and was built in 1317. It is in remarkable condition for a building that old, and continues to function as a church for the village.
This home on Abbey Street was at one time inhabited by my great-grandparents. In 1880 my great-grandfather was killed following a fall from the roof of this home. In 1901, my grandparents left the village and moved to Fisherton Street, in nearby Salisbury, before emigrating to Canada in 1903.
Cerne Abbas is famous for the Cerne Giant, a figure of a man carved into the chalk on the side of a hill on the north-west side of the village and which can be viewed easily from the end of Duck Street. Despite its small population, Cerne Abbas has three pubs: the Royal Oak, the Giant (formerly the Red Lion), and the “New” Inn, which dates from the early 1700’s. A remarkable thing is the quality of cuisine offered by all three – simply outstanding. Not your stereotypical English “pub” food!
A highlight of our trip was finding the graves of our great-grandparents in the Abbey cemetery in the north end of the village.
All of the images were taken using my iPhone 13.
