Compton Abbas lies in the lee of the chalk downs, three and a half miles south of Shaftesbury. The earliest records give it's name as Cumtune, to which Abbas was added in the 16th century when it was part of the lands belonging to the Abbess of Shaftesbury. The name is derived from 'cum', a valley, and 'tun', a settlement.

Compton Abbas is a scattered village consisting of three hamlets, East and West Compton, and Twyford with outlying farmsteads. The Comptons lie in a soutwest facing valley bounded to the east by an arc of chalk downland with Melbury Beacon (863ft) to the north, and Fontmell Down to the southwest. Twyford is one and a half miles west of the Comptons, lying on the eastern edge of the Blackmore Vale.  All the parishes between Shaftesbury and Blandford were given elongated shapes in order that each should have a mix of high and low ground. Compton Abbas covers 1,491 acres (603 hectares) and stretches from the flat top of the Downs in the east to the lower land of the Blackmore Vale in the west. The Downland is chalk with many flints and the valley is fertile Upper Greensand. To the west is Lower Greensandwith some Kimmeridge clay towards the parish boundary along the River Stirchel.

The main north-south road from Shaftesbury to Blandford (A350) bisects the parish. The area lying to the east of the road is in the Outer Cranborne Chase and an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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