Blandford Forum

Blandford Forum, the administrative centre of North Dorset, is beautifully situated along the wooded valley of the River Stour. It’s a handsome town, thanks mainly to suffering the trauma of a great fire in 1731. The gracious Georgian buildings erected after that conflagration, most of them designed by local architects John and William Bastard, provide the town with a quite unique and soothing sense of architectural harmony.

Two important ancient buildings escaped the fire of 1731: the Ryves Almshouses of 1682, and the splendid 15th century Old House in The Close which was built in the Bohemian style to house Protestant refugees from Bohemia. The old parish church did not survive the fire, but its 18th century replacement, the Church of St Peter & St Paul, crowned by an unusual cupola, now dominates the market-place. It’s well worth stepping inside the church to see the box pews, an organ presented by George III, the massive columns of Portland stone, and the elegant pulpit, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, removed here from St Antholin’s Church in the City of London.

In front of the church, the Fire Monument (known locally as Bastard’s Pump) has a dual purpose – to provide water for fire fighting and as a public drinking fountain. Opposite the church, the Blandford Museum features a diorama of the Great Fire along with a wonderful collection of artefacts illustrating many aspects of life in and around Blandford over the years.

Housed in a Blandford town house designed by the Bastard brothers, The Blandford Fashion Museum displays a fantastic collection of costumes from the 1730s through to the 1970s. Originally amassed by the late Mrs Betty Penny, the collection comprises more than 500 items, including a large archive of accessories. It is managed entirely by volunteers, and archiving the material is an important part of the museum’s work. The Dressed to Impress exhibition is the latest to grace the Ballroom, and comprises two dresses representing the 1800s, plus dresses from the Edwardian period through to the 1960s. The museum also has a garden, shop and tea room. Open Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Monday.

Just outside the town centre, at Blandford Camp, the Royal Signals Museum explores the arcane world of military communications with displays featuring spies, codes and code-breaking, the ENIGMA machine, Women at War and Dorset’s involvement in the preparations for D-Day. There are lots of hands-on opportunities such as driving a simulator, guiding a laser beam and practising Morse code.