57-476: Shaftesbury Town Hall is a municipal building in the High Street, Shaftesbury , Dorset , England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Shaftsbury Town Council, is a Grade II listed building . The first town hall was a medieval guildhall; it was itself replaced with a second structure which was financed under the will of a former mayor of the town, Edmund Bower, who had died in 1554. This structure
114-538: A digestive biscuit , branded as Hovis. Now a United Biscuits product, they are shaped like a miniature flat copy of the traditional Hovis loaf , and like the bread have the word "HOVIS" stamped on their top surface. In a bid to help the environment and sustainability, Hovis collaborated with TerraCycle in The Bread Bag Recycling Programme. The objective of the programme is to drop-off used bread bags at public drop-off locations across
171-563: A 51% stake in the business to The Gores Group to form a joint venture between the two companies. In November 2020, it was announced that both the Gores Group and Premier Foods had sold their stakes in the business to British-based private equity firm Endless LLP. Hovis specialises in high wheatgerm wholemeal flour, the bread being baked independently. It also produces the Nimble brand reduced-calorie bread. The brand began in 1886;
228-467: A deed of surrender, the (by then extremely wealthy) abbey was demolished, and its lands sold, leading to a temporary decline in the town. Sir Thomas Arundell purchased the abbey and much of the town in 1540, but when he was later exiled for treason his lands were forfeit, and the lands passed to Pembroke then Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury , and finally to the Grosvenors. Shaftesbury
285-520: A defence in the struggle with the Danish invaders. The burgh is recorded in the early-10th-century Burghal Hidage as one of only three that existed in the county (the others being at Wareham and 'Bredy' – which is probably Bridport ). In 888 Alfred founded Shaftesbury Abbey , a Benedictine nunnery by the town's east gate, and appointed his daughter Ethelgifu as the first abbess . Æthelstan founded two royal mints, which struck pennies bearing
342-975: A flying accident in 1930. Most of Shaftesbury's buildings date from no earlier than the 18th century, as the Saxon and most of the medieval buildings have not survived. In the United Kingdom national parliament , Shaftesbury is in the North Dorset parliamentary constituency , represented since 2015 by Simon Hoare of the Conservative Party . In local government, Shaftesbury is administered by Dorset Council (a unitary authority ) and Shaftesbury Town Council, which has responsibilities that include open spaces and recreational facilities, allotments, litter, street markets, public conveniences, grants to voluntary organisations, cemetery provision, bus shelters, crime prevention initiatives, civic events and
399-571: A presence in the town include the Body Shop , Boots , Somerfield, Superdrug , Tesco and WHSmith . A site has been identified for a projected parkway station on the West of England main railway line. It would be situated to the north of the town, beneath the A350 road, and a bus service would connect it with the town. Currently the nearest railway station is located in neighbouring Gillingham . In
456-584: A railway up the steep slopes would have been difficult and costly. In 1859, the Salisbury and Yeovil Railway established a station at Semley , 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4.0 km) north of Shaftesbury. This station allowed residents and visitors to access the broader railway network. Semley station closed in the Beeching cuts of 1966. The closest railway station to Shaftesbury is now Gillingham railway station (Dorset) , 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of
513-481: A series of free and accessible snowdrop walks by planting snowdrops within the publicly open spaces and along the pathways throughout the town. The project was started in the winter of 2012 with the planting of 60,000 bulbs. Since 2013 there has been an annual Snowdrop Festival to encourage tourists to see the snowdrops in flower. Highlights of the festival include the Snowdrop Art Exhibition and
570-484: A single bell. The basement contained a number of police cells which could be accessed from the rear of the building. The principal room in the building was the council chamber on the first floor which was panelled and, on the south side, featured views out over Gold Hill , which has been described as "one of the most romantic sights in England." The town hall was the headquarters of Shaftesbury Borough Council for much of
627-525: Is a British company that produces flour , yeast and bread . Founded in Stoke-on-Trent, it began mass-production in Macclesfield in 1886. Hovis became part of Rank Hovis McDougall (RHM) in 1962 after a succession of mergers. RHM, with its brands including Hovis and Mother's Pride , was acquired by Premier Foods in 2007. In April 2014 it became a limited company after Premier Foods sold
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#1732797637538684-562: Is a town and civil parish in Dorset , England. It is on the A30 road , 20 miles (32 kilometres) west of Salisbury and 23 miles (37 kilometres) north-northeast of Dorchester , near the border with Wiltshire . It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres (705 feet) above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase . The town looks over
741-476: The 2011 census Shaftesbury's civil parish had 3,493 dwellings, 3,235 households and a population of 7,314. The average age of inhabitants was 43, compared to 39.3 for England as a whole. 22.1% of inhabitants were age 65 or older, compared to 16.4% for England as a whole. 92% of Shaftesbury's residents were born in the United Kingdom, compared to 86.2% for England as a whole. Previous census figures for
798-471: The 2021 census the town's civil parish had a population of 9,162. Shaftesbury has acquired a number of names throughout its history. Writing in 1906, Sir Frederick Treves referred to four of these names from Celtic, Latin and English traditions in his book Highways & Byways in Dorset : The city has had many names. It was, in the beginning, Caer Palladour. By the time of the Domesday Book it
855-580: The Blackmore Vale , part of the River Stour basin. Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey , which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the dissolution in 1539. Adjacent to the abbey site is Gold Hill , a steep cobbled street used in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott ' s television advertisement for Hovis bread. In
912-710: The Civil War , but was in Royalist hands. Wardour Castle fell to Parliamentary forces in 1643; Parliamentary forces surrounded the town in August 1645, when it was a centre of local clubmen activity. The clubmen were arrested and sent to trial in Sherborne . Shaftesbury took no part in the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685. In the 17th century the cloth industry formed part of Shaftesbury's economy, though much of
969-700: The Marquis of Westminster , whose widow donated the site. The town has a public library operated by Dorset Council. Cnut the Great , King of England, Denmark, and Norway, died in Shaftesbury on 12 November 1035; he was buried in Winchester . Poet William Chamberlayne lived there his whole life, from 1619 to 1689. Philosopher Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury (1671–1713), an influential thinker on modern aesthetics. Hovis Hovis Ltd
1026-533: The Mendip TV transmitter. Shaftesbury's local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent , Vale FM , and Heart West Country . The town is home to a volunteer-run community radio station, Alfred, broadcasting local news, speech programming and music on 107.3 FM and online. It was awarded an Ofcom licence in 2020, having grown from a weekly podcast which went daily during the COVID-19 pandemic . The podcast won
1083-466: The Middle Ages the abbey was the central focus of the town; the abbey's great wealth was acknowledged in a popular saying at the time, which stated that "If the abbot of Glastonbury could marry the abbess of Shaftesbury their heir would hold more land than the king of England". In 1260 a charter to hold a market was granted. By 1340 the mayor had become a recognised figure, sworn in by the steward of
1140-471: The scarp edge of a range of hills that extend south and east into Cranborne Chase and neighbouring Wiltshire . The town's built-up area extends down the promontory slopes to lower ground at St James, Alcester and Enmore Green, and eastwards across the watershed towards the hill's dip slope. Shaftesbury's altitude is between about 165 metres (541 feet) at the lowest streets below the promontory, to about 235 m (771 ft) at Wincombe Business Park on
1197-413: The 17th and 18th centuries, and like other Dorset towns such as Dorchester and Blandford Forum , Shaftesbury became known for its beer. The railways however bypassed the town, which had consequences for Shaftesbury's economy; during the 19th century the town's brewing industry was reduced to serving only local markets, as towns elsewhere in the country could transport their produce more cheaply. During
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#17327976375381254-410: The 19th century the population of the town grew little. The town hall was built in 1837 by Earl Grosvenor after the guildhall was pulled down to widen High Street. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building. Shaftesbury Town Hall is next to the 15th-century St Peter's Church which is Grade II* listed. The Westminster Memorial Hospital was constructed on Bimport in
1311-405: The 20th century but ceased to be local seat of government when the enlarged North Dorset District Council was formed in 1974. It subsequently became the home of Shaftesbury Town Council. Four murals were painted by Phyllis Wolff and installed in the town hall in 1979: they depicted the consecration of Shaftesbury Abbey at the instigation of Alfred the Great in 888, the reburial of King Edward
1368-785: The Cann Sand, on the lower slopes of the hill to the north, west and south of the town, are extensive landslip deposits. In 2012 there were 3,400 people employed in Shaftesbury, 65% of whom were working full-time and 35% part-time. Excluding agriculture, the most important employment sectors were public administration, education and health (31% of non-agricultural employment), production and construction (29%), and distribution, accommodation and food (26%). Significant employers include Dorset County Council , Pork Farms , Guys Marsh Prison , Royal Mail , Tesco , Port Regis School , Wessex Electricals, Stalbridge Linen Services, Blackmore Press and Dorset Chilled Foods. There are two industrial estates in
1425-683: The Confessor licensed a third mint for the town. By the time of the Norman conquest in 1066 Shaftesbury had 257 houses, though many were destroyed in the ensuing years of conflict, and by the time the Domesday Book was compiled twenty years later, there were only 177 houses remaining, though this still meant that Shaftesbury was the largest town in Dorset at that time. In the first English civil war (1135–1154) between Empress Matilda and King Stephen , an adulterine castle or fortified house
1482-451: The Hovis process was patented on 6 October 1887 by Richard "Stoney" Smith (1836–1900), and S. Fitton & Sons Ltd developed the brand, milling the flour and selling it along with Hovis-branded baking tins to other bakers. The name was coined in 1890 by London student Herbert Grime in a national competition set by S. Fitton & Sons Ltd to find a trading name for their patent flour which
1539-579: The Martyr in the abbey in 979, the visit of Cardinal Otto Candidus , the legate to the Apostolic see of Pope Gregory IX , to confirm the abbey charter in 1240, and, lastly, the dissolution of the abbey under King Henry VIII in 1539. Other works of art in the town hall include a portrait by an unknown artist of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury . Shaftesbury Shaftesbury ( / ˈ ʃ ɑː f t s b ər i , ˈ ʃ æ f t s -/ )
1596-587: The Snowdrop Lantern Parade. In 2014 Shaftesbury Snowdrops started a heritage collection of rare and unusual snowdrops. These are held in trust for the people of Shaftesbury and displayed in Shaftesbury Abbey during the annual Snowdrop Festival. The collection is being built through sponsorship and donations. Gold Hill Fair usually occurs in the first weekend of July and has food stalls, arts stalls and local music that can be found in
1653-760: The Spears) and Thomas Gale records the name as Caer Palladour in his work of 1709. Though "Palladour" was described by one 19th-century directory as "mere invention", it has continued to be used as a poetic and alternative name for the town. The English name was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Sceptesberie, and the use of "Shaston" ( / ˈ ʃ æ s t ən / ) was recorded in 1831 in Samuel Lewis's A Topographical Dictionary of England and in 1840 in The parliamentary gazetteer of England and Wales . Thomas Hardy used both "Shaston" and "Palladour" to refer to
1710-514: The abbess. In 1392 Richard II confirmed a grant of two markets on different days. Edwardstowe, Shaftesbury's oldest surviving building, was built on Bimport at some time between 1400 and 1539. Also in this period a medieval farm owned by the Abbess of Shaftesbury was established, on a site now occupied by the Tesco supermarket car park. In 1539, the last Abbess of Shaftesbury, Elizabeth Zouche, signed
1767-402: The abbey grounds. Gold Hill Museum was founded in 1946 and displays many artefacts that relate to the history of Shaftesbury and the surrounding area, including Dorset's oldest fire engine, dating from 1744. Shaftesbury Abbey Museum tells the story of the abbey and also has a herb garden and medieval orchard. Shaftesbury Snowdrops is a Diamond Jubilee Community Legacy with the aim of creating
Shaftesbury Town Hall - Misplaced Pages Continue
1824-506: The abbey ruins. In 2016, Shaftesbury's first open arts fringe festival was organised and has since grown to become one of the key fringe festivals in the country. The fringe is always held on the first weekend in July and attracts an eccentric mix of performers from local singers to celebrity comics heading for Edinburgh. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC West and ITV West Country . Television signals are received from
1881-508: The actual production took place as a cottage industry in the surrounding area. In the 18th century the town produced a coarse white woollen cloth called 'swanskin', that was used by fishermen of Newfoundland and for uniforms. Buttonmaking also became important around this time, though with the later advent of industrialisation this subsequently declined, resulting in unemployment, starvation and emigration, with 350 families leaving for Canada. Malting and brewing were also significant in
1938-475: The firm's 120th anniversary. The soundtrack had to be re-recorded to meet advertising standards. The boy on the bike, Carl Barlow, then aged 13, left acting and eventually became a firefighter in East Ham in 1979. In 2008 Hovis departed from the "boy on a bike" format by commissioning Go On Lad , a retrospective advertisement documenting the 122 years of British history since the brand's launch. Go On Lad
1995-583: The gold award in the community radio awards in 2021. Thomas Hardy used the names Shaston or Palladour to describe Shaftesbury in the fictional Wessex of his novels. In Jude the Obscure he described the loss of the town's former architectural glories, principally the abbey: "Vague imaginings of its castle, its three mints, its magnificent apsidal abbey, the chief glory of south Wessex, its twelve churches, its shrines, chantries, hospitals, its gabled freestone mansions—all now ruthlessly swept away—throw
2052-499: The hilltop in the north, with the promontory and town centre being at about 215 m (705 ft). Below the town to the west is the Blackmore Vale , which undulates between about 60 and 110 m (200 and 360 ft). About 2 mi (3 km) west of the town and within the Blackmore Vale is the conical mound of Duncliffe Hill , visible for miles and home to Duncliffe Wood and a nature reserve. The countryside east of
2109-504: The mid-19th century with a legacy from the wife of the Duke of Westminster . In 1918 Lord Stalbridge, 2nd Baron Stalbridge, Hugh Grosvenor, sold a large portion of the town, which was purchased by a syndicate and auctioned piece by piece over three days. The entire Stalbridge Estate of some 13,500 acres was sold and the title became extinct with the death of Hugh Grosvenor, 2nd Baron Stalbridge in 1949. His only son and heir had been killed in
2166-401: The oldest and lowest is a layer of Cann Sand, which is found in the lower parts of the town, such as St James and Alcester, that are below the promontory; above this is a layer of Shaftesbury Sandstone, which generally forms the steepest slopes around the promontory, and on top of this is a layer of Boyne Hollow Chert, which is found on top of the hill and on which most of the town is built. Below
2223-576: The slow movement of Antonín Dvořák 's Symphony No. 9 rearranged for brass . Filmed on Gold Hill in Shaftesbury , Dorset , Scott's advert has been voted Britain's favourite advertisement of all time. An original film print was restored by the BFI in 2019 and is available on their Advertising Collection. This advertisement was repeated on British television for a 10-day run in May 2006 to commemorate
2280-515: The street nationally famous. Shaftesbury is served by the A30 , between Salisbury and Yeovil , and the A350 , which connects Poole and Chippenham . The town is 7 miles (11 km) south of the main A303 trunk road between London and South West England . Shaftesbury has never had a direct railway connection. The challenging topography likely played a significant role in this, as constructing
2337-440: The total population of the civil parish are shown in the table below: Shaftesbury Arts Centre was established in 1957 and stages a variety of exhibitions, performances, workshops and training courses. It is based in the old covered market in the town centre and is a charitable company that is run wholly by its volunteer members. Shaftesbury has two museums: Gold Hill Museum at the top of Gold Hill, and Shaftesbury Abbey Museum in
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2394-433: The town hall, planning (as a consultee) and the war memorial. Shaftesbury is covered by an electoral ward called Shaftesbury Town, which elects two members to Dorset Council. Prior to changes in 2019 , the town elected one member of Dorset County Council and four members of North Dorset District Council . The old centre of Shaftesbury is sited on a westward-pointing promontory of high ground in northeast Dorset, on
2451-428: The town in the fictional Wessex of his novels such as Jude the Obscure . There is no substantive evidence that Shaftesbury was the "Caer Palladur" (or "Caer Palladwr") of Celtic and Roman times, and instead the town's recorded history dates from Anglo-Saxon times . By the early eighth century there was an important minster church here, and in 880 Alfred the Great founded a burgh (fortified settlement) here as
2508-650: The town is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty . Geologically, Shaftesbury's hill mostly comprises Upper Greensand , which is overlain by Lower Chalk in the east. These date from the Cretaceous , with the greensand having been formed in the Albian and early Cenomanian , and the chalk also in the Cenomanian. The greensand is composed of three beds :
2565-417: The town's name, and the abbey became the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England. On 20 February 981 the relics of St Edward the Martyr , the teenage King of England, were transferred from Wareham and received at the abbey with great ceremony, thereafter turning Shaftesbury into a major site of pilgrimage for miracles of healing. King Canute died here in 1035, though he was buried at Winchester . Edward
2622-445: The town, on the West of England line from London Waterloo to Exeter. Local bus services connect the town to surrounding villages and towns. Shaftesbury has a non-League football club, Shaftesbury F.C. , who play at Cockrams. The Shaftesbury Lido, an open air swimming pool at Barton Hill, is open during the summer months. Shaftesbury has a community hospital, opened in 1874 and named Westminster Memorial Hospital in memory of
2679-404: The town: Longmead Industrial Estate, covering 7.7 hectares (19 acres), and Wincombe Business Park, covering 6.5 hectares (16 acres). In 2005 there were 75 shops in the town, with a total floorspace of 7,200 square metres (78,000 sq ft). The retail catchment area for major food shopping extends about 4 + 1 ⁄ 2 mi (7 km) in all directions. National retail chains with
2736-409: The traditional discs used on steam locomotives so that the general public could more easily identify their train. A 1926 advertisement widely deployed on the railways showed five such trains carrying headcodes H ō V I S along with an explanation (H-Hampton Court, ō-Hounslow, V-Kingston [V for Thames Valley], I-Dorking North & Effingham, and S-Shepperton). That the "clockwise" Hounslow Loop head-code
2793-429: The visitor, even against his will, into a pensive melancholy, which the stimulating atmosphere and limitless landscape around him can scarcely dispel." In the 1970s Ridley Scott used Gold Hill , a steep cobbled street in the town, as the setting for a television advertisement for Hovis bread, in which a bread delivery boy is seen pushing his bicycle up the street before freewheeling back down. The advertisement made
2850-532: Was Sceptesberie. It then, with all the affectation of a lady in an eighteenth-century lyric, called itself Sophonia. Lastly it became Shaston, and so the people call it to this day, while all the milestones around concern themselves only with recording the distances to "Shaston". The original Celtic name is first recorded in Medieval Welsh literature as Caer Vynnydd y Paladr (The Mountain Fort/City of
2907-482: Was a parliamentary constituency returning two members from 1296 to the Reform Act of 1832 , when it was reduced to one, and in 1884 the separate constituency was abolished. In Survey of Dorsetshire , written in about 1630 by Thomas Gerard of the Dorset village of Trent , Shaftesbury is described as a "faire Thorough Faire, much frequented by Travellers to and from London". The town was broadly Parliamentarian in
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#17327976375382964-475: Was a slightly height-reduced 'O' topped by a bar led to the rendering of the brand as HōVIS, a rendering that significantly outlasted the advertising campaign. In 1973, Hovis ran a television advertisement, Boy on the Bike , written by advertising agency Collett Dickenson Pearce and filmed by CDP's photographer Jack Bankhead under the direction of Ridley Scott , who later directed Alien . The advert featured
3021-524: Was built on a small promontory at the western edge of the hill on which the old town was built. The site on Castle Hill, also known locally as Boltbury, is now under grass and is a scheduled monument . In 1240 Cardinal Otto of Tonengo , legate to the Apostolic See of Pope Gregory IX visited the abbey and confirmed a charter of 1191, the first entered in the Glastonbury chartulary. During
3078-406: Was constructed in ashlar stone and was castellated . The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with five bays facing onto the High Street; the central bay featured a porch on the ground floor and a casement window on the first floor with a clock tower being added in 1879 (initially built in wood, it was rebuilt in stone in 1925). The clock is by Gillett & Bland and strikes the hours on
3135-517: Was designed with arcading on the ground floor to allow markets to be held and was erected in the middle of the High Street in 1578. In the early 19th century civic leaders decided, as part of a widening scheme for the High Street, to erect a third town hall on a site to the south of the 16th century structure. The current building, which was commissioned by Earl Grosvenor , was designed in the Neoclassical style and built between 1826 and 1837. It
3192-656: Was rich in wheat germ . Grime won £25 when he coined the word from the Latin phrase hominis vis , "the strength of man". The company became the Hovis Bread Flour Company Limited in 1898. When the abundance of certain B vitamins in wheatgerm was reported in 1924, Hovis increased in popularity. In 1915, when the London and South Western Railway inaugurated their first electric train services, they introduced alphabetical head-codes in lieu of
3249-658: Was voted "Advert of the Decade" by the British public in December 2009. Hovis Ltd. published a series of map books which included advertisements for their products. In 1899 the company produced eight books of maps, covering England and Wales, designed for cyclists. In 1920 the company published Where to Go and How to Get There: Hovis Road Map of England, Wales and Scotland , and several versions of this book were later printed. Since 1980, Hovis have licensed Jacob's to produce
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