Listed Building record MDO4609 - Shaftesbury Abbey (Abbey Church of St Mary and St Edward), Shaftesbury

Adjacent to Park Wall were the foundations of the greater part of the 11th-15th century Abbey Church; which have been excavated. Many remains discovered, including bones thought to be those of King Edward the Martyr, to whom the Abbey was dedicated. The Abbey was a Benedictine Nunnery, founded by Alfred in 888, his daughter being the 1st Abbess. The record for this monument has been enhanced with support from Wessex Water.

ST 861229. The site of the Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Edward, Shaftesbury was excavated in 1816, 1861, 1902-5, 1930-32 and 1955, revealing the remains of a late 11th/early 12th century cruciform structure; the eastern arm of three bays had a central apse and was flanked by chapels with smaller apses. Early in the 14th century a chapel with crypt beneath, was built in the angle between the north chapel and north transept with entrance to the crypt by a canted flight of stairs. A leaden casket was unearthed in 1931 at the chapel and contained the fractured remains of a young man, plansibly identified as the relics of St. Edward. A large chapel, probably a Lady Chapel was also added in the 14th century on the southside of the eastern arm, replacing the 11th century south chapel (see plan for details).

Heavy foundations uncovered at the western extremity of the excavated area perhaps correspond with the twin western towers indicated on the 13th century abbey seal. Of the pre-conquest church (circa 888 AD or earlier - see ST 82 SE 4) no remains have been identified although carved stones preserved on the site include some that can be dated to the 10th or early 11th century. A few architectural fragments imply that the church was stone built but they provide no information as to its form. <1-2>

Two fragments of 8th-9th century Saxon work have been found during excavations, and 5 fragments of 10th-11th century work. <10>

<1> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1956, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1955, 141 (Serial). SDO55.

<2> Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), 1972, An Inventory of Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Volume IV (North), 57-61, Plan Photos No 1 (Monograph). SDO99.

(1) The Abbey Church of St. Mary and St. Edward (86182290), now reduced to little more than its foundations, lies on the E. of the area formerly occupied by Alfred's borough. Shaftesbury Abbey was the wealthiest Benedictine nunnery in England; its foundation is generally ascribed to King Alfred, whose daughter Aethelgeofu is the first recorded abbess: Monasterium juxta orientalem portam Sceftesburg, habitationi sanctimonialium habile, idem praefatus rex aedificari imperavit; in quo propriam filiam suam Aethelgeofu, devotam Deo virginem, abbatissam constituit. (fn. 14) The 15th-century cartulary (B. M., Harley, 61) (fn. 15) includes a number of older charters, some of them apparently genuine and referring to lands later held by the abbey. The oldest, datable between 670 and 676, is a grant to Abbot Bectun of thirty households at Fontmell; (fn. 16) the grant was successfully disputed by the neighbouring minster of Tisbury, (fn. 17) but the property was held by Shaftesbury in 1066. Similar grants to individuals, entered in the cartulary, were attributed to Egbert (802–39), (fn. 18) Ethelbald (855–860), (fn. 19) Ethelbert (860–865/6) (fn. 20) and Ethelred I (865/6–871). (fn. 21) The charters of Ethelbald, Ethelbert and Ethelred may explain Leland's record, (fn. 22) that these princes were co-founders of the abbey with Alfred, their younger brother. The entry of these charters, especially that concerning Abbot Bectun, suggests that a minster church already existed at Shaftesbury in the 7th century, the property of which descended to the abbey. This minster may have sustained the charge of a nunnery (cf. Trans. R. Hist. Soc., 4th ser., xxiii, 51–2).

Asser's record of the foundation of the abbey occurs at a point in the MS. which indicates the year 887, and was so understood by Symeon of Durham (see above), but the passage is clearly recapitulation and its position in the narrative is not to be relied upon in this way. As shown above, the foundation charter appears to date from the years 871–7. Aethelgeofu came to the abbey in her childhood, and her abbacy is likely to date from the end of the 9th century at the earliest.

The 10th century saw many munificent gifts to the abbey. The most highly venerated relic came in 979 when the body of King Edward was brought there from Wareham minster, where it lay for a year after the king had been murdered at Corfe. (fn. 23) The original dedication in honour of the Virgin was subsequently augmented to include the name of St. Edward. In the late 11th-century church St. Edward's tomb was on the N. side of the chancel; the empty grave, lined with dressed ashlar, was opened in 1861. (fn. 24) William of Malmesbury, writing c. 1125, records that portions of the relics had been removed to Leominster and Abingdon, and that the remains of the body at Shaftesbury had long perished, although a lung, still preserved, could be seen miraculously pulsating: miraculo sane ostentatur pulmo, toto dudum consumpto corpore, adhuc integra viriditate palpitans. (fn. 25) There cannot be much doubt that William saw the squat glass jar which was rediscovered, probably in 1901–3, 'under a heart-shaped white marble slab in front of the high altar'; (fn. 26) probably it was set in this place early in the 14th century as a focus for the devotion of the community when the relics were translated to a newly built chapel on the N. (see below).

Of the pre-conquest church no remains have been identified, although carved stones preserved on the site include some that can be dated to the 10th or early 11th century. A few architectural fragments imply that the church was of stone, but they provide no information as to its form.

Excavations on the site of the church (Plate 60) have disclosed the remains of a late 11th-century cruciform building. The eastern arm of three bays had a central apse and was flanked by chapels with smaller apses, the latter square externally. Square transepts with eastern apses extended N. and S. On the W. was an aisled nave of at least seven bays. A drawing of c. 1553 (Plate 58) showing the church in a ruinous state soon after the Dissolution, (fn. 27) depicts the nave arcades with large cylindrical columns; these are unlikely to date from before 1100 and must represent the completion of the church early in the 12th century. On the other hand, many fine architectural details of late 11th-century date, preserved on the site, indicate that the eastern part of the church was complete by 1100; presumably this work included the eastern bay of the nave, where the footings of the first pier next to the crossing, on the N. side, remain; the pier was rectangular with attached shafts, the chamfered base of one shaft remaining in situ. No doubt the eastern parts of the church were built under the rule of Abbess Eulalia who succeeded in 1074; her name and that of Prioress Agnes appear in the bede rolls of Matilda of Caen (1113), and of Vitalis the founder of the Order of Savigni (1122). (fn. 28)

Early in the 14th century a chapel with a crypt beneath it was built in the angle between the N. chapel and the N. transept, eliminating the transeptal apse. Entrance to the crypt was by a canted flight of stairs, winding down through the S. part of the E. wall of the transept, no doubt in order to leave the central part of the E. wall free for a dignified entry to the upper chapel. A roughly made leaden casket was unearthed in 1931 from a position which would correspond with the threshold of this entry; it contained the fractured bones of a young man, plausibly identified with the relics of St. Edward, perhaps reburied here in haste at the Dissolution. The upper chapel may thus be identified as that of St. Edward; presumably it contained a shrine to which the relics were translated in the 14th century, a more convenient position for the devotions of pilgrims than the earlier tomb on the N. of the chancel.

In the 14th century a large chapel, probably a Lady Chapel, was added on the S. side of the eastern arm, replacing the 11th-century S. chapel and causing the destruction of the S. transept apse. It was of four bays, heavily vaulted and buttressed. At this period a number of monastic churches received the addition of chapels for the celebration of the Mass of the Blessed Virgin. For convenience of access by the laity they were usually situated on the side of the church remote from the cloister, but at Shaftesbury this position was already occupied by the chapel of St. Edward.

The liturgical arrangement of the 11th-century church is likely to have had the choir with the nuns' stalls in the eastern bay of the nave, and extending into the crossing and eastern arm. On the W. the return stalls backed against the pulpitum, the foundations of which traverse the nave between the first pair of piers; there were screens under the arches behind the stalls. The rood-screen, perhaps of wood, stood between the second pair of nave piers, with the rood altar against the W. face; the screen continued across the aisles in masonry, dividing the nuns' church from the western part of the nave, used by the laity. The arrangements probably evolved gradually; a solid screen of the kind indicated by the footings in the aisles is not likely to date from much before 1200.

The remains of the pulpitum and of the screens crossing the aisles show that these features were demolished to a level below that of the nave floor. Such radical destruction implies the deliberate dismantling of the rood and pulpitum while the church was still in use. Many monastic and other churches retain evidence of liturgical rearrangement in the 14th and 15th centuries, and Shaftesbury Abbey probably supplies another example. The remains of foundations, perhaps part of a late pulpitum, occur on the E. of the crossing, and an altar has been added against the W. face of the S.E. crossing pier. The removal of the choir with its stalls into the eastern arm of a church was often carried out in late mediaeval times in order to free the nave for large congregational services, especially sermons. The rearrangement is often associated with eastward extension of a church, but of this there is no sign at Shaftesbury; the boundary of the excavations, however, coincides with the E. part of the 11th-century apse foundations, and it is possible that a later presbytery, extending further E., remains to be discovered.

The rearrangements suggested above may have been connected with the addition of the 14th-century Lady Chapel; the two need not be contemporary, although the removal eastwards of the choir would have made the Lady Chapel more accessible. The change can hardly have been made before 1326, when the community numbered more than 120 and was ordered to admit no more members until the total had been reduced. (fn. 29) Precise figures are not again available until the 15th and 16th centuries, when the numbers of nuns vary between 36 and 55. (fn. 30) The reduction in numbers probably took place in the earlier part of the interval and the rearrangement, with its smaller choir, may have been effected by the middle of the 14th century. Perhaps a closer date is afforded by an ordinance of 1364 transferring the chaplaincy of the rood altar in the abbey church to the adjacent church of Holy Trinity, where the incumbent of the chaplaincy became a parochial chaplain. (fn. 31) This event probably marked the extinction of parish rights in the nave of the abbey church.

The chapter house, with a fine tiled pavement of the late 13th century, was separated from the S. transept by a narrow passage. The cloister lay S. of the nave, in the usual position; only a small part has been excavated. The W. walk with the western processional doorway lay opposite the seventh bay of the nave, suggesting that the nave extended at least one bay further west. Twin western towers are indicated on the 13th-century abbey seal, and perhaps on the Wilton sketch of 1553, and heavy foundations uncovered at the W. extremity of the excavated area probably bear out these indications.

At the Dissolution, on 23 March 1539, the abbey was surrendered by the abbess, Elizabeth Zouche, to the King's Commissioner, Sir John Tregonwell (Hutchins III, 30–2). In 1544 much of the abbey property was bought by Sir Thomas Arundel and in 1553, after Arundel's attainder, it was sold to the Earl of Pembroke, whose descendants still possess Sir Thomas Arundel's terrier. The sketch in the terrier (Plate 58) proves that the abbey church was already in ruins by the middle of the 16th century; in course of time it disappeared altogether and gardens and houses took its place. In 1816 Charles Bowles started excavations on the site; at a depth of 6 ft. he found a tiled floor decorated with griffins, lions, dragons etc., and Purbeck marble monuments (Gentleman's Magazine, LXXXVII (1817), 209). Researches of a more systematic nature in 1861 resulted in the clearing of the eastern arm of the church and of part of the crypt of St. Edward's chapel on the N. (Edward Kyte, W.A.M., VII (1862), 272–7; Hutchins III, 32–5); the trenches were filled in again in 1862. In 1902–5 Edward Doran Webb cleared the eastern part of the church (Excavations on the site of the Abbey Church ... Shaftesbury, 1902, 1903, 1904, printed in Shaftesbury by T. Pinney); the glass jar in which St. Edward's lung may have been preserved appears to have come to light during this period. After 1905 Webb's trenches were neglected for many years and much damage was done by frost. In 1930–2 further work was undertaken by J. Wilson-Claridge, who cleared most of the nave; at this time the relics, supposedly of St. Edward, came to light in the N. transept (Report of Excavations . . . 1930–1, Crypt House Press, n.d.).

Architectural Description—In the Chancel the eastern extremity of the apse is covered by a modern wall. The northern quadrant of the apse is represented by the core of the curved wall; the southern quadrant, entirely perished, has been restored in recent years. The platform which fills the apse is of mediaeval origin but trenches have been cut on N. and S. in an attempt to expose the apse footings. The two W. steps are modern restorations; the third step retains part of an original chamfered offset. Between the apse and the crossing, the chancel probably was of three bays. Immediately W. of the apse the N. wall of the chancel contains a recess lined with diagonally dressed ashlar, carefully coursed; the recess goes down nearly 2ft. below floor-level, and about 1 ft. above floor-level the N., E. and W. sides have offsets 3 ins. wide; this was evidently an important tomb and originally may well have contained the body of St. Edward. Adjacent on the W. is the threshold and part of the rebated W. jamb of a doorway in a narrow passage cut through the wall between the chancel and the N. chapel; this feature is of doubtful origin. On the W. of the doorway the lowest course of the original ashlar wall face is preserved; set upon it are three stones of a heavy string-course, 10 ins. thick, chamfered above and below; they appear to be part of a pilaster between the two eastern bays of the chancel, but are not necessarily in situ. The second bay seems to have had a wide, shallow recess in the N. wall, and in the sill of the recess are three dowel-holes, possibly for the base of a grill. An opening to the N. chapel in the third bay of the chancel is probably not original. On the S. side of the chancel, the heavy chamfered string-course noted on the N. is repeated; to the E. of this feature the S. wall has been razed; to the W. the wall contains a tomb. Further W., beyond a narrow opening to the S. chapel, a semicircular foundation projects on the N. side of the S.E. pier of the crossing; it is not bonded into the main structure and its purpose is uncertain. If the hypothesis advanced above be true, that the choir was moved eastwards in the 14th century, the projection could perhaps represent part of a 14th-century pulpitum.

Many fragments of the chancel pavement remain in situ, consisting of terracotta tiles about 5¼ ins. square, with shields-of-arms and various emblems in white slip; the earlier of them date, probably, from the second half of the 13th century. In two places straight margins indicate the position of choir stalls. The chancel floor slopes gently upwards, being about 1½ ft. higher at the E. than at the W. end.

The North Chapel was of three bays with an apse on the E. The lowest ashlar course of the internal apse wall-face survives in situ; on the chord of the apse a step 6 ins. high is rebated on top for tiles. A few chamfered ashlar blocks in the E. face of the E. wall are part of the plinth. In the N. wall, incorporated in the E. wall of the adjacent 14th-century chapel, is an original chamfered plinth-stone and the base of an 11th-century pilaster buttress. Inside, the N. wall of the chapel retains the base of the respond between the first and second bays; when excavated in 1902 this respond had an attached half-round shaft, 1 ft. 4¾ ins. in diameter, with a moulded base, but these features have gone. The division between the second and the third bay is marked by a step 6 ins. high, but the wall responds have gone; another step leads down to the N. transept. Slight irregularities in the S. wall of the chapel indicate the position of former responds between the bays and at the opening of the apse.

The South Chapel, originally uniform in plan with that on the N., was enlarged to E. and S. and given a rectangular E. end in the 14th century. The 11th-century chapel is represented by the footings of its S.E. corner, preserved below the floor-level of the later building and now exposed. In the 14th-century chapel a large block of ashlar at the S.E. corner retains the mouldings of the chamfered vaulting ribs, which evidently sprang at floor-level. This chapel was of four bays; a projecting stone near the middle of the N. wall may be part of the base of one of the responds; straight-joints close to it, on the W., possibly indicate the position of a respond in the original chapel. In the footings of the S. wall of the chapel a projection near the E. end is perhaps the substructure of a shrine. Externally, the three eastern buttresses of the 14th-century S. wall are represented by footings, extensively restored; in the fourth buttress two courses of 14th-century ashlar are preserved and the wall between the third and fourth buttresses retains a chamfered plinth.

The North Transept has, on the E., the opening to a stair which winds down to the crypt of St. Edward's chapel (see below). Adjacent, on the N., is a rectangular recess in the floor, where the lead box containing bones, believed by many to be the relics of St. Edward, was discovered in 1931. In the southern part of the W. wall, one course of the outer wall-face remains in situ and returns at the angle with the N. aisle; it is of squared ashlar and stands nearly 1½ ft. high. The Crypt of St. Edward's chapel has walls of squared and coursed rubble with ashlar dressings, in part restored. The tas-de-charge of the two-bay cross-vault remain in situ. The doorway to the stair on the W. has rebated jambs.

In the South Transept the footings of the inner face of the E. wall are preserved as far N. as the S. side of the S. chapel; the footings of the S. and W. walls also remain, but the superstructure has entirely gone. At the time of excavation traces of a doorway were noted at the S.E. corner, possibly giving access to a stair to the dormitory.

The Crossing is defined by four massive rectangular piers rising some 2 ft. above the level of the former pavements, but deprived of almost all facing stones. Masonry extending W. from the S.E. pier is probably the base of an altar and its footpace. The masonry footing of a semicircular feature built against the N. face of the same pier has been mentioned above.

The Nave has been excavated as far W. as the boundary of the adjoining property, revealing six bays and part of a seventh. On the N., the eastern pier retains the chamfered plinth of an attached shaft, indicating that this pier was cruciform in plan. Further W. the positions of the former piers are occupied by mounds of rubble, presumably lying on original foundations. The drawing of c. 1553 in the Wilton Terrier (Plate 58) shows the piers as cylindrical, and unattached ashlar facing stones found on the site, from a convex cylinder about 4 ft. in diameter, indicate the probable size of the former piers. Foundations spanning the nave nearly in line with the easternmost piers are doubtless the substructure of the former pulpitum. A rectangle of rough stones on the axis of the nave, in the third bay, is presumably the footing of a platform for the altar in front of the rood-screen.

Of the North Aisle there remain the footings of the N. wall, a few stones of the lowest course of the outer wall-face at the E. end, and part of the core of the wall over a length of some 40 ft. The foundations of a wall or screen separate the two eastern bays from those on the W. The tiled pavement of the aisle lies some 6 ins. higher than that of the nave.

In the South Aisle the two eastern bays are divided from those on the W. by the footings of a cross-wall, as in the N. aisle; a similar feature occurs at the sixth pier. Two openings in the foundations of the S. wall are not original, but that on the W. probably indicates the place of an original doorway from the W. walk of the cloister. The foundations of two buttresses which project into the N. walk of the cloister are later additions.

In the Cloister, the foundations of part of the N. and W. walks have been exposed. The foundations of two buttresses near the N.W. corner of the garth wall appear to be late repairs, but a buttress which stands 16 ft. S. of the N.W. corner includes original masonry; beside it, on the N., the wall retains a chamfered plinth. Some fragments of tiled paving remain in the W. and N. walks.

The foundations of the N. wall of the Chapter House are seen some 5 ft. S. of the S. wall of the transept. Adjacent on the S. are some remains of the chapter-house tiled floor. Further S. the foundations of the conventual buildings probably exist, concealed beneath a public road.

Fittings, etc.—Carved stone fragments (Plates 3, 59), found during the excavations and kept in a museum on the site, include the following: Of pre-conquest date—(1) perhaps part of a crossshaft, with single-strand interlace ornament and, on adjacent side, 'anglian' beast-head; (2) small fragment with two-strand interlace; (3) fragment with palmette ornament, subsequently reused and with billet ornament superimposed; (4) grave slabs, four, with crudely carved crosses. Of the late 11th century— (5) volutes, 16 in number, of various sizes, some retaining pigment; (6) base of attached shaft (diam. 5½ ins.), of Purbeck marble, with cable moulding and palmettes (see drawing); (7) large capital with volute and leaf ornament; (8) volute capital for shaft 13 ins. in diam., and some 20 fragments of similar capitals; (9) sculptured corbel from corbel-table; (10) bases for shafts about 10 ins. diam. Of the 12th century—(11) part of twisted stone shaft, 6 ins. diam; (12) part of spiral-fluted shaft, 1¼ ft. diam.; (13) voussoirs with chevron, dog-tooth and pellet decoration; (14) string-course with billet decoration; (15) double capital for coupled shafts of about 7 ins. diam., perhaps from cloisters; (16) leaf capitals for shafts about 3 ins. and 5 ins. in diam.; (17) two large corbels with grotesque masks. Of the 13th century—(18) two bases with hold-water mouldings for shafts about 5 ins. diam.; (19) stiff-leaf capital 1 ft. high for triple shaft. Of the 14th century—(20) vaulting boss with shield charged with two crossed swords. Of the 15th century—(21) vaulting bosses, 8 in number, with foliate and heraldic decoration.

Coffins and Coffin-lids: fragments, from six burials, 11th century, 13th century and of unknown mediaeval date.

Cross: of stone, brought in 1931 from another part of Shaftesbury (Wilson-Claridge, op. cit., p. 8) and reset on stepped base at centre of main apse; inlet in stonework, four original alabaster carvings, much worn, the best preserved representing seated figure, robed and crowned; late 14th or early 15th century.

Glass: many fragments, mainly with grisaille decoration, 14th and 15th century.

Monuments and Floor-slabs. Monuments: Fragments of broken effigies include—(1) Purbeck marble mail-clad head of man, 12th-century; (2) fragments of mail-clad stone effigy, 12th century; (3) part of Purbeck marble female effigy, 13th century; (4) part of stone effigy of youth, 14th century; (5) part of stone effigy in priest's vestments, 14th century; (6), (7), parts of two stone female effigies, 15th century; (8), (9), (10), parts of three stone figures, 15th century. Floor-slabs: (1) of Alexander Cater, late mediaeval; (2) of Thomas Scales, 1532, withincised black-letter inscription in square border.

Tiles: of the later 13th and 14th century remain in situ in several parts of the church (see plan). Others, better preserved, have been removed to the museum and include those illustrated on pp. xviii, xxiii.

<2.1> 1817, Gentleman's Magazine, 209 (Serial). SDO17260.

<2.2> Wiltshire Archaeology and Natural History Society, 1862, The Wiltshire Archaeological and Natural History Magazine (Volume 7), 272-7 (Serial). SDO19156.

<2.3> Hutchins, J, 1868, The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. Volume 3. 3rd edition, 32-5 (Monograph). SDO11486.

<2.4> Historic England, Historic England Archive, Excavs Abbey Church 1902-4 (T Pinney) (Index). SDO14738.

<3> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1982, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1981, 126 (Serial). SDO81.

'Shaftesbury. Two 11th-century architectural fragments, a capital and a base, located in a rockery at Barton Hill House, have been deposited by Dorset County Council in the museum of Shaftesbury Abbey, from which they are presumed to have come.’

<4> Stenton, F M, 1983, Anglo-Saxon England (Monograph). SWX8731.

<5> Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1992, Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society for 1991, 181 (Serial). SDO91.

<6> Richards J, 1993, Shaftesbury Abbey. An archaeological assessment of the site of the proposed Museum Building. Preliminary Statement. (Unpublished document). SDO11519.

<7> Richards J, 1994, Shaftesbury Abbey. An archaeological assessment of the site of the proposed Museum Building. (Unpublished document). SDO11520.

<8> Corney, M, 2000, A Survey of Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO11526.

<9> Corney, M, 2002, A Survey of Shaftesbury Abbey, Dorset (Unpublished document). SDO11535.

<10> Cramp, R, 2006, Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Stone Sculpture: Vol VII. South-West England, 109-112 (Monograph). SDO17427.

<11> Milby, S, 2017, Land at Park Walk, Shaftesbury, Dorset. An Archaeological Evaluation. (Unpublished document). SDO15403.

<12> National Record of the Historic Environment, 206568 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Dec 14 2023 5:10PM