Once one of the most important and wealthiest nunneries in England. The abbey's ruins, consisting mainly of its foundations and remnants of walls, are located in a peaceful walled garden next to the famous Gold Hill.
Shaftesbury Abbey was founded by King Alfred the Great in 888 AD. It was the first religious house in England established exclusively for women, and Alfred's daughter, Æthelgifu, was its first abbess. The abbey grew in wealth and importance, particularly after it became the burial site and shrine of St Edward the Martyr, a Saxon king who was murdered at Corfe Castle in 978 AD. His shrine attracted a large number of pilgrims, which brought significant income to the abbey.
By the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries under King Henry VIII in 1539, Shaftesbury Abbey was the second wealthiest nunnery in the country. It was the last abbey to be dissolved, and its buildings were systematically destroyed, with locals taking the stone for their own buildings. The ruins we see today are the excavated foundations of the church and other parts of the abbey complex.
Entry is free, and the lovely volunteers are happy to offer a little tour with some details on the Abbey. It must have looked mightily impressive in its day.