The county of Dorset, England is one of the oldest and most beautiful places on the face of the Earth. Dorset has been inhabited for as long as anywhere else in England and in some parts far longer: The internationally renowned Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site can be found in Dorset and some of the relics from this area are among the oldest discoveries ever found. Naturally, many visitors flock to Dorset every year to lay eyes on the Jurassic Coast whether for its extreme beauty or for its historical significance. As such, every town in Dorset enjoys a bit of tourism income. Though there are plenty of gorgeous towns in Dorset, owing to the phenomenal landscape, one would be hard pressed to find one as magnificent as Shaftesbury. With its enormous chalk cliffs and greensand hill, Shaftesbury resembles a town in a fantasy novel more than an English city and, at over seven hundred feet above sea level, Shaftesbury is both one of the oldest and one of the highest elevated towns in the entire United Kingdom.
Part of the beauty of Shaftesbury has to do with the layout of the town. The eye-popping greensand that dots the landscape has been used to great effect to construct many of the buildings in town over many centuries and walking around Shaftesbury evokes imagery that is likely previously unimagined in your mind. A few steps from the edge of town delivers another stunning view; this time, it is the incredible Blackmore Vale that will challenge your senses and fill you with awe. Offering more chalk hills and rocky crags, the Blackmore Vale is the kind of natural wonder that any hiker worth his or her salt would die before passing up. Countless poems, paintings, and stories have been inspired by the Vale, with Tess of the D'urbervilles by Thomas Hardy as the most well-known among them. One needn't venture too far out of Shaftesbury to see wondrous sights, though; Shaftesbury itself is filled to the brim with manmade treasures including the famed town hall built in 1827. Listed as a grade II building, this monument to Shaftesbury's hardihood has stood proudly for hundreds of years, offering marvels galore for the residents of the town and tourists alike. Those with a more morbid bend would do well to seek out the grave of King Canute. It may be difficult to find, though, considering the fact that the king died nearly a thousand years ago.
Shaftesbury used to have many more Saxon and medieval buildings but, alas, nearly all of these have been ruined or destroyed completely. While there are still many gorgeous buildings dating back from the 1700s, one can't help but wonder how much more beautiful Shaftesbury would be if it still had all of its incredible edifices. Either way, there is no denying that Shaftesbury is a wondrously gorgeous locale that offers far more eye candy than its neighbors and therefore it is worth a visit simply for the visceral experience.
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