Shaftesbury St Peter

Photograph courtesy of Valerie Gray ©

Shaftesbury is a town on the Dorset border, 28 miles north-east from Dorchester. Roman coins have been found during excavations and the town was mentioned in the Domesday Book. An abbey was established in the 6th century and it was a place of pilgrimage at one time. The town is on a hill for which there is a steep ascent. The parish of St Peter covers the main part of the town, St James covers the lower part of the town and was described as mainly small tenements in the 19th century. Holy Trinity is to the south and west. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 large parts of the  three parishes became the borough of Shaftesbury.

St Peter (photograph above) is the most ancient of the churches and it stands in the High Street. It was built in the latter part of the 15th century, by 1878 the interior was pronounced unsafe and it was not in use for many years. In 1897 the floor and seating was renewed and further work was carried out in the early 20th century. The registers date from 1623. The population of the civil parish in 1871 was 1020 and in 1891 was 801 persons and the area was 72 acres.

Gold Hill.  Photograph courtesy of Adrian Parry ©

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Shaftesbury St Peter is Karen Satterthwaite

If you contact Karen please put 'OPC Shaftesbury' as the subject line