More information : A fragment of inscribed stone, carved between circa
975 and 1050 was found on the site of the abbey church (ST 82 SE 4)
in 1902 and evidently belongs to an inscription seen in the abbey
chapter house by William of Malmesbury about 1125 AD. The stone
ascribes the traditional foundation of Shaftesbury to King Alfred
in 880 AD (see burh - (ST 82 SE 56) and Malmesbury also recorded
that it had been brought from the ruins of a very old wall. From
the reconstructed inscription (see illus. card), R.C.H.M.
considered that the stone derived from an important early 11th
century secular structure, which is unlikely to have been
anything but a stone-built town wall; the most probable position
for the inscription being in association with a gateway. (1)
Penn refers to the inscribed stone and its possible association
with a stone gateway but does not suggest a town wall here. (2)
Full description of the inscribed stone, which is probably pre-Conquest. (3)
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