Shaftesbury is Dorset's only significant hilltop town, on the edge of Cranborne Chase near the Wiltshire border.
Photo: Robin Drayton, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsComing soon
Every business we list is phoned and checked first, so towns fill up one at a time. Many businesses based nearby already cover Shaftesbury: try the trade you need across Dorset.
Shaftesbury is in the Dorset Council area, so planning applications and building control go through Dorset Council.
The centre of Shaftesbury is in a conservation area, and there are 268 listed buildings within a kilometre of the centre, 2 of them Grade I. In a conservation area the work you can do without planning permission is more limited, so check before changing windows, doors, roofs or front boundaries. Listed buildings need listed building consent for most changes, inside and out.
The Cranborne Chase & West Wiltshire Downs National Landscape is within 2km of the centre of Shaftesbury. If your home is inside a National Landscape, permitted development rights are more limited, so check before extending.
Some land within a kilometre of the centre of Shaftesbury is in Flood Zone 3, the Environment Agency's highest flood risk category, from rivers. Check the flood risk for your address before major ground-floor work, and ask about flood-resilient options when you replace floors, kitchens or electrics.
Updated 7 November 2026
