Shaftesbury and District’s local history museum with an award-winning cottagegardenand wonderful views over Thomas Hardy’s Blackmore Vale.
At the top of picturesque Gold Hill, well known for the Hovis “Boy on a Bike” advert, thismodern museumis set in two historic buildings. One was once the priest’s house and still has a “squint” through the wall to St Peter’s church; the other provided basic lodgings for traders at the market on Gold Hill.
Eight galleries tell the story of rural and town life, starting even before Shaftesbury’s notional foundation by Alfred the Great. Highlights of thecollectioninclude the unique Byzant, carried during annual celebrations of the securing of the water supply, so vital to a hilltop town; Dorset’s oldest fire engine, dating from 1744; fine lacework and costumes; handmade Dorset buttons; and a mummified Dorset cat.
