Blandford Forum
- "Blandford" redirects here. For the town in Massachusetts, see Blandford, Massachusetts.
| Blandford Forum | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Population | Expression error: "8,755 (2001)" must be numeric |
| OS grid reference | ST881064 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BLANDFORD |
| Postcode district | DT11 |
| Dialling code | 01258 |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Blandford Forum, or Blandford is a Georgian market town on the River Stour in Dorset, England. In the 2001 census the population was 8,755 people. Blandford is the location of North Dorset's district council, though it is situated in the far south-east of the district. Nearby is the small village of Blandford St Mary.
Blandford is situated between Cranborne Chase and the Dorset Downs, at the south eastern corner of the Blackmore Vale, 25 km (16 miles) north-west of Poole and 34 km (21 miles) south-west of Salisbury. Blandford Camp military base is nearby. The town lies at the junction of the A350 and A354 main roads but is skirted by an eastern bypass.
A number of renowned private schools are located near Blandford, such as Knighton House, Hanford, Bryanston School, Canford School and more.
The town and surrounding villages are home to many primary schools. Students move at age 11 to The Blandford School which is a specialist technology college lying in the West of Blandford; the School also has a sixth form.
Thousands of people attend the Georgian Fayre which fills the town centre and is held in the first week of May each year. The Fayre combines Georgian celebrations with cultural presentations, stalls, and a fun fair on the grassy banks of the Stour.
The nearby village of Tarrant Hinton is home to the Great Dorset Steam Fair which can attract 250,000 in the last week of August each year. The fair is a showcase for steam engines from across the UK and Europe. Craft stalls, camping, and a large carnival are among the attractions.
One less pleasant local resident is 'The Blandford Fly', a local biting insect which has caused several fatalities. In recent years the weed beds in the river have had to be sprayed to stop it breeding.
History
Blandford has been a fording point since Anglo-Saxon times, when it was recorded as Blaen-y-ford and as Blaneford in the Domesday Book, meaning ford of the river of blay or gudgeon. By the 13th century it had become an important market town, with a livestock market serving the nearby Blackmore Vale with its many dairy farms. The Latin word Forum, meaning market, was recorded in 1540.[1] It was an important break on the journey between the port of Weymouth and the capital London. There is still a bi-weekly market held in the town.
In 1731 much of the town was destroyed in a fire. John and William Bastard rebuilt the town over the following 30 years and the town centre is an excellent example of Georgian architecture from the 1730s to 1760s.
Architecture
Blandford Forum is often given as an example of a Georgian town, as the entire centre was rebuilt at once in the 1700s, due to a fire, and is hence uniformly Georgian. All facades remain in fair to good condition, and notable buildings include The Corn Exchange, and the 1732 parish church of St Peter and St Paul, a classical building with a cupola on top of the tower. To the south of the town a six arch stone bridge spans the slow-moving River Stour.
Economy
One of the largest industries in the town is the Badger Brewery which supplies beer and ale to public houses across the region. There has been talk for some years of redeveloping the old brewery for residential use.
Some 2 km northeast of the town lies Blandford Camp, which has long been home to the Royal Corps of Signals, the communications wing of the British Army. The base incorporates a modern technology training college plus a cinema for military personnel, and the National Signals Museum (a museum of items relating to the history of the Royal Signals since its inception) which is open to the public. The museum contains many items of interest including uniforms, medals, signals equipment, (some of which is interactive) and not least, an Enigma cryptographic machine, famous for cracking the German High Level ciphers during World War 2.
There are a number of busy industrial estates (with, for example, builder's supply yards) on the bypass road to the North-East of Blandford.
The early 2000s saw a number of private housing development projects in and around Blandford, such as "Badbury Heights" and more. These developments were built somewhat sensitively with faux-traditional architectural styles (such as "half-brick" fascias, period-looking eaves, etc.) for a more pleasing, architecturally "vernacular" result than the usual cookie-cutter new home developments seen in most of the UK.
Shopping
Blandford has a blend of small unique shops as well as larger stores such as Tesco, Woolworths, Homebase, WH Smith, Somerfield, Argos, Spar, Mackays/M&CO. The town also has a number of banks including HSBC, Lloyds TSB , Natwest and Barclays.
There are a surprising number of barbers in Blandford, due to the nearby military base!
Literature
Blandford features in Thomas Hardy's novels as the Wessex town of "Shottesford Forum".
In 1590, Edmund Spenser mentioned the town in The Faerie Queene.
Blandford Forum railway station which is now gone - the train line to Blandford was removed in the 1960s - was mentioned in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann.
References
- ^ Mills, A.D., 1986. Dorset Place Names. Ensign, Southampton.
- Blandford Forum Information at Dorset County Council (pdf) - Accessed January 2006