Shaftesbury Abbey

Also known as, or recorded in historical documents as; Shafton

In the civil parish of Shaftesbury.
In the historic county of Dorset (Modern Authority of Dorset, 1974 county of Dorset).

Nunnery founded circa 888, probably on the site of a 7th century minster which may have been extant circa 670. It was reformed to the Benedictine rule, presumably in the reign of Edgar, and was dissolved in 1539. Licence to crenellate granted 1367.

This site has been described as a;
Fortified Ecclesiastical site.
The confidence that this site is a medieval fortification or palace is Possible.
Masonry ruins/remnants remains.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST861229

PastScape number; 206402

Books

Aston, Mike and Lewis, Carenza, 1994, The Medieval landscape of Wessex (Oxbow Monograph 46) p53
RCHME, 1972, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol4: north p57-61
Knowles, David and Hadcock, R. Neville, 1971, Medieval religious houses in England and Wales (Longmans) p255, 265, 482
RCHME, 1970, An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset. Vol2: south-east (HMSO) [in three parts] p73-9
Page, Wm (ed), 1908, 'House of Benedictine nuns: The abbey of Shaftesbury' VCH Dorset Vol2 p73-9 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=40143
Turner, T.H. and Parker, J.H., 1859, Some account of Domestic Architecture in England (Oxford) Vol3 pt2 p416

Journal Articles

Coulson, C., 1982, 'Hierarchism in Conventual Crenellation: An Essay in the Sociology and Metaphysics of Medieval Fortification' Medieval Archaeology Vol26 p69-100
Transactions of the Royal Historical Society [ser4] Vol23 p51-2

Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)

Calendar of Patent Rolls (1367-70) p10

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Shaftesbury Abbey

Nunnery founded circa 888, probably on the site of a 7th century minster which may have been extant circa 670. It was reformed to the Benedictine rule, presumably in the reign of Edgar, and was dissolved in 1539. Licence to crenellate granted 1367.

The Ordnance Survey Map Grid Reference is ST861229

Sources of information, references and further reading