Shaftesbury & Gold Hill, Dorset: History, the Abbey & Things to Do

Shaftesbury stands about 215 metres above sea level on a greensand hill at the edge of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop town in Dorset. From its edges you look out over the Blackmore Vale, and at its heart is Gold Hill, the steep cobbled street that has become one of the most famous views in England.

Why Shaftesbury Is Special

Gold Hill alone would be worth the journey: a curve of cobbles dropping steeply away, a row of cottages stepping down one side, a great buttressed wall on the other and the green vale spread out below. It has been called one of the most romantic sights in England.

But Shaftesbury is far more than one street. It is one of the oldest towns in Wessex, with a royal abbey, a long literary history and a busy little centre of independent shops, cafés and a weekly market.

The History of Shaftesbury

By the early 8th century there was already an important minster church here, and in 880 Alfred the Great founded a fortified burgh on the hilltop to defend against Danish invaders. In 888 he founded Shaftesbury Abbey, a Benedictine nunnery by the town's east gate, and made his daughter Ethelgifu its first abbess.

In February 981 the relics of the murdered boy-king Edward the Martyr were brought here from Wareham with great ceremony, and Shaftesbury became a major place of pilgrimage. King Canute died in the town in 1035. By the Norman Conquest Shaftesbury had 257 houses, and even after the losses that followed it was the largest town in Dorset in the Domesday Book of 1086, recorded as Sceptesberie.

The abbey grew into one of the richest religious houses in England. In 1539, the last abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, signed the deed of surrender, the abbey was demolished, and its lands were sold, and the town went into a temporary decline. Among the abbey's more unusual guests had been Elizabeth de Burgh, Queen of Scots, wife of Robert the Bruce, held here from October 1312 to March 1313. In 1981, a thousand years after Edward's relics arrived, the great procession was re-enacted. Its oldest surviving building, Edwardstowe on Bimport, dates from some time between 1400 and 1539.

Gold Hill itself runs down beside the massive buttressed precinct wall of the old abbey. At the top stands the 14th-century church of St Peter, one of the few buildings in the town older than the 18th century. Thomas Hardy called the town Shaston in his Wessex novels, including Jude the Obscure, and Gold Hill appeared in the 1967 film of Far from the Madding Crowd.

Its greatest fame came in 1973, when Ridley Scott filmed the "Boy on the Bike" television advertisement for Hovis bread here, set to the slow movement of Dvořák's New World Symphony. It has been voted Britain's favourite advertisement of all time, and the street is still sometimes called Hovis Hill.

Things to Do in Shaftesbury

Walk down Gold Hill and back up (the cobbles are steep), and visit the Gold Hill Museum at the top for the town's history. The ruins of Shaftesbury Abbey, with a museum and garden, are a few steps away (check opening times).

Follow Park Walk along the southern edge of the town for wide views over the Blackmore Vale, then explore the High Street for independent shops and cafés.

Gardens, Countryside & Antiques near Shaftesbury

Stourhead, the National Trust's celebrated 18th-century landscape garden, is a short drive north-west, and Longleat lies just beyond it. Cranborne Chase, a protected chalk landscape, surrounds the town to the east.

For paint and interiors, the Farrow & Ball Visitor Centre is near Wimborne, and Dible & Roy in Bradford on Avon is a good drive north.

Shaftesbury Through the Seasons

Spring brings blossom to the gardens along Gold Hill, and summer evenings are lovely on Park Walk. Autumn colours the Blackmore Vale and Stourhead's lake, and winter is peaceful, with long views on clear days.

Getting to Shaftesbury

The nearest railway station is Gillingham in Dorset, on the line from London Waterloo to Exeter, about four miles north of the town.

Shaftesbury: Questions & Answers

Why is Gold Hill famous?

Gold Hill is the steep cobbled street in Shaftesbury where Ridley Scott filmed the 1973 Hovis "Boy on the Bike" advertisement, voted Britain's favourite advert.

Who founded Shaftesbury?

Alfred the Great founded a fortified burgh here in 880 and Shaftesbury Abbey in 888, with his daughter Ethelgifu as the first abbess.

Our Advice

Our advice: Visit Gold Hill early in the morning, before the light gets flat and the street fills up, then walk Park Walk and spend the afternoon at Stourhead.