By the Rev, J. J. Reynolds. 261 



and the little parish of All Saints with the chapelry of St. Edward,^ 

 were included in the ancient borough and town of Shaftesbury. 

 The parishes of Cann St. Rumbold on the East, St John's on the 

 "West, and St. James on the South-west, are not, and never were 

 included in the borough. I speak of the municipal town and 

 borough, and not of the recently formed Parliamentary district, 

 which embraces parishes for several miles round. 



The Abbey stood in the gardens between what is now called 

 " The Park " and the Holy Trinity Church-yard, anciently called 

 the Abbey Church-yard. We find in old records mention made of 

 the Church of St. Trinity in the Abbey Church-j'ard. 



The Abbey itself and its offices lay to the West of the Abbey 

 Church. In these gardens ancient foundations of very solid con- 

 struction, arches, stairs, carved stones with distinct traces of gilding 

 and colouring, and encaustic pavements, as well as frequent memo- 

 rials of ancient interment, are still to be found. Some of these 

 tokens of the past grandeur and beauty of the Abbey, are now 

 deposited at the Literary Institution in this town.* In the South 

 porch of the Church of St. Trinity, is the defaced monumental 

 effigy of an ecclesiastic, which some years since was removed from 

 these gardens and built into a wayside wall on Toothill. It was 

 rescued and placed in the Church by the care of a former Rector. 



It does not appear that Alfred at first made any permanent pro- 

 vision for the Abbey. It was probably maintained by his royal 

 bounty out of the portion of his income laid by for pious and 

 charitable uses. Before his death however, he settled on it a 

 permanent endowment of 100 hides of land — about 12,000 acres. 

 Of these lands 4,800 acres were in the Donheads and Compton, 

 1800 in Fontmell, 1800 in Iwerne, 1200 in Tarrant, and 2,400 in 

 Handley and Gussage. 



' The little parish of All Saints, with St. Edward's, is now united to the parish 

 of St. James, which is, as I have said, itself without the borough. 



* In anticipation of the visit of the Wilts Archaeological Society, Wni. Batten, 

 Esq., Agent for the Most Hon. the Marquis of Westminster to whom the ground 

 now belongs, by his Lordship's permission, and indeed at his expense, made some 

 investigations on the supposed site of the Abbey Church. A separate account of 

 what has been discovered is given in an article following this paper. 

 VOL. Vn. — NO. XXI. 2 B 



