Bradford Abbas is a village and civil parish in north-west Dorset, England, on the border with Somerset. The village is 3 miles south-east of Yeovil and 5 miles south-west of Sherborne. The parish includes the small settlement of Saxon Maybank to the north, and had a population of 975 at the 2011 Census. The name of the village signifies the "Abbot's broad ford" on the River Ivel, the abbot in question being that of Sherborne; the land was given to Sherborne Abbey by King Alfred the Great.