I visited the ruins of Shaftesbury Abbey in a torrential downpour but it was still beautiful

Shaftebury Abbey is a ruin, in private hands and run by a charity, and I was desperate to visit because it’s where King Alfred’s daughter, Æthelgifu, was an abbess, and where King Edmund’s first wife, Ælfgifu, was buried, (the mother of Eadwig and Eadgar/Edgar) and where the body of King Edward the Martyr was moved to after his murder (the oldest son of Eadgar/Edgar). You can read about these women in my The Royal Women Who Made England non-fiction title. And I’ve fictionalised many of them as well, especially Lady Elfrida, accused of murdering her stepston.

However, I was there on a day so biblically wet a few weeks ago, that sadly, they had to close (i.e. this is the first time I’ve been kicked out of a historical monument), but the volunteers were absolutely lovely and I’m grateful they let me look for as long as possible before making sure they got home safely on roads that were very, very wet. And, it made the whole experience very atmospheric. If you pop over to their website, there are fab images of it being sunny. https://www.shaftesburyabbey.org.uk I hope to be able to return on day when it’s not raining.