Shaftesbury in North Dorset is one of the highest towns in England, standing as it does at 750 feet above sea level. As with many high points in the area, the first settlement was established around 8000 years ago in the middle of the Stone Age. The town went on to become hugely important during Medieval times and has long been an important cross roads for trade, sitting as it does in the heart of the Blackmore Vale. Named Shaston by the author Thomas Hardy in his Wessex novels, this town has much to offer...