The Blandford Blog

Blandford Forum is a small town in Dorset, on the map it is roughly half way between Bournemouth and Salisbury. In, what is locally called “The middle of nowhere”.

The town sits on the banks of the river Stour and probably was built because this is where the old roads from Salisbury to Dorchester and Poole to Shaftesbury met and crossed the river. As was usual in old England, where ever roads met, or crossed rivers a town or village was bound to spring up.

Blandford is one of the best preserved Georgian towns in England. Although its history goes back much further than the 1700’s, there are only two building in the town that predates 1731. This was the year of “The Great Fire” which destroyed the entire town, leaving only two buildings standing.

As a result of this, the buildings in the center of the town, or the old part of the town as it has grown considerably over the year, all date between 1735 and 1760.

As you move out from the centre of town the building get newer, until at the edges of the town the houses are only a few years old.

Well, that gives a brief outline of the town’s history. Future posts, I hope, wil be a mixture of current evens in and around the town, with a some historical posts thrown in for interest.