Shaftesbury St James

Shaftesbury is a town on the Dorset border, 28 miles north-east from Dorchester. Roman coins have been found during excavations and the town was mentioned in the Domesday Book. An abbey was established in the 6th century and it was a place of pilgrimage at one time. The town is on a hill for which there is a steep ascent. The parish of St Peter covers the main part of the town, St James covers the lower part of the town and was described as mainly small tenements in the 19th century. Holy Trinity is to the south and west. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 large parts of the  three parishes became the borough of Shaftesbury. 

The church of St James was completely rebuilt in 1866-67 at a cost of £3,350. It consists of a nave, chancel, vestry, aisles, north porch and an embattled western tower 65 feet in height , with four pinnacles and containing a clock and four bells. The pulpit is of oak and elaborately carved. The registers date from 1559. In 1891 the population of the civil parish of St James was 1060 in 1871 and in 1891 was 950 which included 69 inmates and officers in the workhouse. The area is 1798 acres.

  St James School, see further details on the Photographs
page. Photograph courtesy of J G Kennedy ©

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Shaftesbury is Jan Genge Kennedy
Jan can be contacted by email by clicking on her name above, please put OPC Shaftesbury in the subject of your emails