SHAFTESBURY, or SHASTON, Dorsetshire, a market-town, a municipal and parliamentary borough, and the seat of a Poor-Law Union, is situated in 2' N. lat., 2° 12' W. lnug., distant by road 27 miles N.N.W. from Dorchester, 105 miles W.S.W. from London. The population of the municipal borough in 1851 was 2503; that of the parliamentary borough was 9404. The borough is governed by 4 aldermen and 18 councillors, one of whom is mayor ; and returns one member to the Imperial Parliament. The livings are in the arch deaconry of Dorset and diocese of Salisbury: Shaftesbury Poor-Law Union comprises 19 parishes, with an area of 36,493 acres, and a population in 1851 of 13,029.
Shaftesbury is supposed to be the Caer Palladwr of the Britons. It appears to have been a station of the Romans. It was burnt by the Danes and restored by King Alfred. The name was variously written before it was cued in its present form, which is sometimes altered into Shaston, or, in closer resemblance, Shafton. In the reign of Athelstan there were in the place two mints and an abbey of Benedictine nuns. To this abbey the body of King Edward the Martyr was conveyed after his murder at Cerra Castle. The posses sion of this relic attracted many visitors, and among others Canute the Great, who died at Shaftesbury in 1036. In 1313-14 Elizabeth, wife of Robert Bruce, king of Scotland, was detained as a prisoner in the abbey. Shaftesbury was incorporated in the reign of James I. From the time of Edward I. till the passing of the Reform Act the borough returned two members to Parliament.
The town is built on a hill rising abruptly in the midst of a fertile district, and commanding an extensive view of the counties of Dorset, Somerset, and Wilts. It is lighted with gas and partially paved.
St. Peter's church, in the middle of the town, consists of a nave and chancel, with aisles, and a square embattled tower: it is a building of considerable antiquity, mnch defaced by modern alterations. Trinity church, which is united in the same benefice with St. Peter's, was rebuilt in 1S42, in the early English style. It stands in a spacious churchyard, laid out with rows of lime-trees. St. James's church is a neat building, consisting of a nave and chancel, and an embattled tower. St. Rombald'a, or Rowald's, consists of a small nave and chancel, with a low square tower of modern date. The Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Quakers have places of worship. There are National, British, and Infant schools; also an endowed Blue-Coat school, In which 20 boys are clothed and educated for four years and then provided with a liberal sum for apprenticeship. In the vestry room of Trinity church is an excellent theological library, established by the aid of the late Dr. Bray, for the use of the neighbouring clergy. The town has a publio reading-room, a sayings-bank, and some parochial eharities. The town-hall is a handsome edifice, erected at the expense of the Marquis of Westminster. The trade of the place is limited to the sale of agricultural produce, particularly of butter and cheese, from the fine grazing lands of the district There is a weekly market on Saturday, and fairs are held on the Saturday before Palm-Sunday, Jona 24th, and November 23rd. Quarter and petty sessions and a county court are held In the town.