Shaftesbury the town of Shaftesbury  is steeped in both history, and tradition, and has the distinction of being one of the oldest towns in England. Located in the beautiful Vale of Blackmoore. The Blackmoor Vale is mentioned by Thomas Hardy, who wrote of  Shaftesbury dominating the "en girdled and secluded vale", Shafesbury can also be easily recognized, in Hardy's novel's as the town of: 'Shelston.' The history of Shaftesbury, however goes way beyond the 19th century, and Hardy. The historic Abbey of Shaftesbury, was founded in the Saxon period about 878 AD: by King Alfred the Great. After the battle of Edington in West Wiltshire in 878 AD, when King Alfred the Great who's defeat of the Viking raiders, had finally brought peace and order to England. King Alfred was not only a warrior King, for after his victory he set about reforming the country. Alfred was a lawmaker, administrator, scholar and religious reformer. And two of of the many things King Alfred was to implement  were directly responsible for the existence of Shaftesbury, he established the town of Shaftesbury as a place that people could flock to in the times of trouble for safety, and more importantly King Alfred founded; The Benedictine nunnery of Shaftesbury. By the reign of King Aethelstan, (924-940) The Monastery was a place of pilgrimage, and pilgrims flocked to worship at the shrine of St Edward. 

The young Saxon King of England St. Edward the Martyr; [circa 962; ] son to Edgar the Peaceful, and uncle to St. Edward the Confessor about 962; was murdered, St Edward Was out hunting in Dorsetshire. There, whilst drinking on horseback a glass of mead, which was offered to him at the gate of Corfe Castle gate, he was stabbed by an assassin in the bowels.He was buried at Wareham ;But later his body, was brought  to Shaftesbury, Edward was laid to rest here in the Abbey with great ceremony in 979. Patronage and pilgrims visiting his shrine made the Abbey not only rich, but famous. And these pilgrimages were reason the town grew to such importance. So important that King Aethelstan granted it the right to have no less than three money minters. In 1260, the Town was granted a charter to hold a market this was to be increased to two market's in 1392, which gives one an idea just how important Shaftesbury had become, for to be given a  Royal Charters: enabling a town to hold a market were only given to towns deemed to be very important.
By the 18th century, Shaftesbury had become the center of transport link in the county with no less than 5 turnpike roads, that converged on the town, with so much traffic extra horses were required to pull the coaches up the steep incline called Tout Hill. Unfortunately the coming of the railway did not benefit the town as it did for so many of the towns, in the West Country for the nearest railway station was Gillingham; this had the effect of leaving Shaftesbury out on a limb something of a backwater, The Georgian period, was to see something of a revival in Shafesbury's fortunes, the town saw an influx of new businesses, which supplemented the older traditional trades of malting, tanning, cloth making and buttons: button's had traditionally been made out of Dorset sheep horns in the cottages as a way of supplementing income. In the 1800s, this was to change. During the reign of Queen Ann, Abraham Case of Shaftesbury took it out of the realms of a cottage industry, and placed it on a more business like footing.

Since 1297, the borough of Shaftesbury like other towns of the West Country returned; two Members of parliament. These were know as‘scot and lot’ boroughs – which allowed all male householders who had paid rates, and taxes the entitlement of a vote. During the 18th century, all the candidates were chosen by Anthony Ashley Cooper, the Earl of Shaftesbury who just happened to own most of the town, so there-fore elections in Shaftesbury were mostly uncontested. This political influence was not only confined to Shaftesbury, most Towns and Villages were under the control of landowning families, and until 1774. The two parliamentary candidates merrily and without hindrance bribed local businesses and voters, some time the bribe could be as much as 4 weeks wages to the poorer voters, the only thing open about these election was they took in public at booths known as the hustling's In Shaftesbury, about 300 people had the vote in the 1800s.

From 1820, the town had passed in to the ownership of the Grosvenor family, the Grosvenor family, purchased 400, or so premises in Shaftesbury; thus in-effect owning most of the town, and of course the voting rights. The Family however benevolently; sponsored innovative building projects, such as the Town Hall. There was however another side to the story for the Earl brought the town to ensure it returned two Whig MPs, which he choose of course. Shafesbury was by this time the town was a thriving market town on the busyncoach road that connected to London, and Falmouth. Later Lord Stalbridge sold the family’s holdings in 1918, to a syndicate. The estate was eventually broken up and the properties were purchased by sitting tenants.

So how do we find  Shaftesbury to-day.The town remains much as it did during the Victorian period when it was  Hardy’s ‘city of a dream’.  Much building work was carried out not without a determined fight by the townsfolk who fought determinedly to preserve Shafesbury's integrity. Yes they successfully put up to halt the wholesale development of this fine town. Fortunately a lot of Shaftesbury’s buildings are in protected conservation areas, Unfortunately though when the listing of historical buildings, was introduced in the 1950s, not many of the Victorian buildings were considered worth saving. As a result, the later Grosvenor buildings have been altered and some even demolished: however the one's that have survived look exactly the same as when the Victorians built them over 150 years ago, there going would be a great loss to Shaftesbury’s unique character. Shafesbury is the main shopping and service center for the surrounding area, providing educational, health and recreational facilities, to the rural population  Shaftesbury has its own art cente,r and museum both of which deserve a visit.

If you would like to link to this website please Email