Introduction

At over 750 feet above sea level, it is the height of the land at Shaftesbury that has been the determining factor in its history.  It was the Saxons who first founded a hilltop town here because of its strategic position overlooking the surrounding countryside.  For the same reason King Alfred, of burnt cakes fame, made Shaftesbury a defended town in the 9th Century, after his defeat of the Vikings. He was so confident in its geographical security that he founded an Abbey for his daughter here.

Tradition says that the town may have been known as Caer Palladur in Celtic times. Shaftesbury's first recorded appearance as a town is in the document known as the 'Burgal Hideage'.  The Burgh's or fortified settlements were created by Alfred as a defence against the encroachment of the Danes.  The foundation of the Abbey led to prosperity for the town and Athelstan authorised three royal mints which struck silver pennies bearing the name of the town.