Dorset OPC

Shaftesbury St James

Dorset OPC

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 to designs by T. H. Wyatt, 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 six 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 St James is Karen Satterthwaite

If you contact Karen please put 'OPC Shaftesbury' as the subject line


Census The following have been transcribed so far
1841, 1861, 1871, 1891
Parish Registers
Baptisms
1676-1750, 1751-1812, 1812-1850, 1851-1875, 1876-1903
Marriages
1561-1837, 1837-1903
Burials
1559-1683, 1684-1764, 1765-1837, 1837-1859
Postal Directories Transcriptions of the
1830, 1842, 1851, 1865 & 1895
directories are available.
Land Tax & Land Owners Owners of Land 1873
Photographs Photographs of Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury photographs courtesy of Rick Frear
Links A page giving links to sites that feature Shaftesbury families.
Maps  

View Larger Map
   
Records held at the Dorset History Centre
[Ref PE-SY(SJ)]
 
Registers
Christenings 1559-1971. Marriages 1560/1-1654, 1661/2-1952. Burials 1559/60-1654, 1660-1860.
Registration District
(for the purpose of civil registration births, marriages & deaths)
1 Jul 1837-31 Mar 1937: Shaftesbury
1 Apr 1937-31 Mar 1974: Sturminster
1 Apr 1974-17 Oct 2005: North Dorset

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