Retirement Properties Spotlight in Milborne Port

Milborne Port Port is an ancient settlement first recorded in the will of Alfred the Great and was then known as Milborne derived from the Saxon names for 'mills' and 'brook'. It is mentioned in Domesday as being in the ownership of William I's brother the Count of Mortain. The village was enlarged by the addition of 'Port' in the 13th century to signify its importance as a local centre, including one of the few official mints in the region. Milborne Port pennies date to King Ethelred II.

The village has been quiet a commercial centre over the centuries with flour milling, weaving and latterly leather tanning and gloving. Little is left of these activities now save for a few old buildings but there are in the village some notable properties including Ven, a magnificent early eighteenth century house on the east side of the village, the Town Hall dating back to Georgian times and the imposing neo-Gothic former Vicarage at the west end of the village, now beautifully restored as The Old Vicarage Hotel and restaurant.

Milborne Port enjoys a quieter atmosphere today but is still a thriving village with many amenities including shops, post office, inns, doctor's surgery, churches, dentist, library and veterinary surgery. Nearby is Blackmore Vale, Thomas Hardy's Vale of the Small Dairies, and the historic abbey town of Sherborne has a range of shopping facilities and a golf course.

The village is set in beautiful countryside on the borders of Somerset and Dorset and conveniently located close to major towns in the area. Road access via the A303 also provides excellent direct links to both London and the West. Communications by rail are from either Sherborne, about three miles and London (Waterloo) in 2 hours twenty minutes , and Castle Cary about 12 miles and London (Paddington) in an hour and a half.