Village Utilities
It may seem strange to us in the 21st century but it was not long ago that basic services did not exist.
1927 - Parish minutes note that a telephone service was to be installed from Dorchester
1930/1940's - Not certain when mains electricity was brought to the village. A Diocese record notes electricity being installed in the church in 1938.
1932 - Weekly rubbish bin collection started by District Council.
Post 1945 - Mains water supply brought to Abbas - this was noted as planned in parish council meeting during WW2.
Bus service start ??
Petrol station / garage - when did this start ? Note : Dorset History Centre holds a photograph (Herbert Collection) taken in 1961 and entitled - "site for proposed garage / service station". NB : This site is actually in Winterbourne Steepleton Parish.
1973 - Mains sewerage installed starting in Abbas and running down through Steepleton to a pumping station just east of Martinstown. Some residents in Martinstown were not wholly in agreement !
1978 - Mains Gas supply reached Abbas. (White Friars was one of the first to have it installed ?)
1980's - A35 Bypass for Winterbourne Abbas first discussed. It got to the consultation stage but was scrapped by John Prescott when the Labour Government came to power in 1997.
2012 - Fast fibre broadband reached the area
2019 - Overhead National Grid Pylons removal project started due to be completed by the end of 2022.
2020 - 2022 - New mobile phone masts installed on A35 east of the village
2023 - November : a temporary mobile mast (EE ?) sited to the west of the Dorchester Collection car sales was removed