Melbury Abbas
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Melbury Abbas is a village in north Dorset, England, situated between Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum on Cranborne Chase. The village has a population of 301 (2001), 34.4% are retired. 6.1% of dwellings are second homes.
The village is known for its traffic problems as it is situated on what has become the main road between Shaftesbury and Blandford. The road, which is not officially classified at all, takes much of the traffic that should use the A350 primary route through the Blackmore Vale a few miles to the west, as the hilltop road is straighter and passes through fewer villages. Melbury Abbas is the only bottleneck on the hilltop road, where it dips down into the valley and narrows. Dorset County Council have considered bypass schemes, but none have got further than preliminary stages as the village is surrounded by important conservation land.
The village has a small airfield.
Madonna and Guy Ritchie have a home just outside the village, and caused some controversy when they tried to close public byways which ran through their land.
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