Shaftesbury, Dorset

Location Map

Shaftesbury is a town in Dorset

Other current and historical names

Location and coordinates are for the approximate centre of Shaftesbury within this administrative area. Geographic features and populated places may cross administrative borders.

Shaftesbury in historic gazetteers

Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887). John Bartholomew

Shaftesbury (or Shaston), mun. bor. and market town, in N. of Dorset, 3½ miles SW. of Semley ry. sta 28 miles NE. of Dorchester, and 101 from London, 179 ac., pop. 2312; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks. Shaftesbury is a very ancient place, either built or rebuilt by King Alfred, from whom it acquired a great Benedictine nunnery, which received the remains of Edward the Martyr, and was the place where King Canute died. It is a purely agricultural town. It was a borough by prescription, first chartered by Elizabeth. It returned 2 members to Parliament from the time of Edward I. until 1832, and 1 member from 1832 until 1885. The parliamentary limits extended into Wilts.

Shaftesbury in the Domesday Book

A village in Sixpenny hundred, in the county of Dorset.

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