Shaftesbury Tourist Guide Shaftesbury Abbey Gold Hill Hovis Advert

Shaftesbury Tourist Information

Shaftesbury is the only real hilltop town in Dorset set in the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase in the north of the county. Shaftesbury is most famous for Gold Hill, the steep cobbled hill featured in the Hovis "Boy on the Bike" advert used in the 1970s-80s and directed by Ridley-Scott. The advert was voted the favourite advertisement of all time in 2006 and Hovis are reputed to have contributed to the restoration of the cobbles.

Shaftesbury carries on its market town heritage with markets every Thursday and the monthly Farmers Market on the first Saturday of each month. The Old Covered Market has been converted to house Shaftesbury Arts Centre which organises a programme of amateur and professional plays, films, art, photography and craft exhibitions and workshops.

The locally run Shaftesbury & Gillingham Tourism Services next to the town's supermarket is very helpful and it's well worth picking up the town Heritage Trail for a minimal fee to help guide you round the town s historic sights.

Shaftesbury & Gillingham Tourism Services, 8 Bell Street, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8AE. Tel: 01747 853514. Fax: 01747 850593. Email: tourism@shaftesburydorset.com

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Gold Hill Museum & Garden

If you make it to the top of Golf Hill you can visit Gold Hill Museum & Garden - look out for the huge Hovis loaf outside.

The museum is housed in what was a doss house for the drovers and traders that flocked to the market town. You can find out all about local history through a variety of artefacts and stroll around the cottage garden with its views over Blackmore Vale.

The museum is open daily from 10.30am-4.30pm March to October.

Gold Hill Museum & Garden, Gold Hill, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8JW. Tel: 01747 852157. Email:sdhs@waitrose.co.uk

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Countryside around Shaftesbury

West of the town is Duncliffe Wood managed by the Woodland Trust. It is one of the largest woods in North Dorset and is an ancient woodland site. Unfortunately much of the original woodland was felled to make way for commercial conifer timber planting in the 1950s-1960s, but since the Woodland Trust has taken it on, they have been working to restore it to its native woodland character by planting native broadleaved species. There are still some remnants of the original woodland with coppice stools and small-leaved lime scattered throughout as well as a rich array of woodland flowers including yellow archangel, moschatel and wood speedwell - all indicators of ancient woodlands. The woods are also home to a fantastic variety of butterflies including silver-washed fritillary, white admiral and purple hairstreak.

Blackmore Vale was called the "Vale of the little dairies" by Thomas Hardy and is still a stronghold for dairy farming. Hardy's "Tess of the D'Urbervilles" was also set here.

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Shaftesbury Abbey

Shaftesbury is an historic town having originated from at least Saxon times. Saxon King Alfred The Great founded the Benedictine Abbey in 888 AD and installed his daughter as its first Abbess. At its height the abbey was home to the largest Benedictine nunnery.

It has some famous connections as King Canute died at Shaftesbury and the boy King Edward the Martyr who was murdered by his stepmother at Corfe Castle, so that his half brother could be crowned, was buried in the Abbey after which Shaftesbury Abbey became a centre of pilgrimage. Catherine of Aragon is also said to have stayed here in 1501 when she was on her way to marry Prince Arthur, Henry VIII's brother.

You can now visit the Abbey's ruins and the gardens around them. The Abbey Museum holds carved stones and artefacts uncovered during excavation in the nineteenth century which help tell its history. The gardens have been planted with herbs and flowers that would have been used by Saxon nuns for flavouring foods, dyes or for their medicinal properties.

The Abbey Museum is open from 10am-5pm, end March-end October. Shaftesbury Abbey Museum & Garden, Park Walk, Shaftesbury, Dorset SP7 8JR. Tel/Fax: 01747 852910. E-mail: user@shaftesburyabbey.fsnet.co.uk

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Gillingham and Shaftesbury Agricultural Show

Gillingham and Shaftesbury Agricultural Show is one of the main annual events in the area. It usually takes place in August just outside the town at Motcombe.

There are a wide range of stalls and events including cattle, sheep and dog shows, horse riding competitions, a food hall and cookery theatre and, of course, traditional competitions such as vegetable growing competitions.

The Show is held at Turnpike Showground, Motcombe which lies just off the B3081between Shaftesbury and Gillingham.

Check the link right for up-to-date information.

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