Shaftesbury (/ˈʃɑːftsbəri, ˈʃæfts-/) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England.
It is situated on the A30 road, 20 miles (32 km) west of Salisbury, near to the border with Wiltshire.
It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres (705 ft) above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase.

The town looks over the Blackmore Vale, part of the River Stour basin.
From different viewpoints, it is possible to see at least as far as Glastonbury Tor to the northwest.

Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the Dissolution in 1539.
Adjacent to the abbey site is Gold Hill, a steep cobbled street used in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott's television advertisement for Hovis bread.

In the 2011 Census the town's civil parish had a population of 7,314.
Shaftesbury (/ˈʃɑːftsbəri, ˈʃæfts-/) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, 20 miles (32 km) west of Salisbury, near to the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres (705 ft) above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase.
The town looks over the Blackmore Vale, part of the River Stour basin. From different viewpoints, it is possible to see at least as far as Glastonbury Tor to the northwest.
Shaftesbury is the site of the former Shaftesbury Abbey, which was founded in 888 by King Alfred and became one of the richest religious establishments in the country, before being destroyed in the Dissolution in 1539. Adjacent to the abbey site is Gold Hill, a steep cobbled street used in the 1970s as the setting for Ridley Scott's television advertisement for Hovis bread.
In the 2011 Census the town's civil parish had a population of 7,314.
Shaftesbury