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blandford forum |
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BLANDFORD FORUM , the gateway into mid-Dorset from Bournemouth, owes
its latinate name not to the Romans but to medieval pedantry - the
original Saxon name Cheping, meaning "market", was translated as Forum
by Latin-speaking tax officials in the thirteenth century. The Romans
weren't far away, however - their main route from Old Sarum to
Dorchester ran through the Iron Age fortification of Badbury Rings, just
east of the town, where it made an uncharacteristic bend.
In 1731 Blandford was all but destroyed by fire, the fourth such
conflagration since the end of the sixteenth century. The phoenix that
rose from these ashes - as the Fire Monument near the church puts it -
was designed by the unfortunately named Bastard brothers, John and
William, whose "Blandford School" produced buildings characterized by
mellow dapplings of brick and stone. Sleepy Blandford still boasts one
of the most harmonious and complete Georgian townscapes in England, with
its centrepieces being the Town Hall and the Church of St Peter and St
Paul , built in 1739. Outside, the church's distinguishing feature is
the cupola perched on its handsome square tower; inside, it has fine box
pews and huge Ionic columns. It doesn't quite look as John Bastard
intended, though: the church was daringly altered at the end of the
nineteenth century, when the chancel was sawn off the nave, stuck on
wheels, rolled out of the way so that a new section could be built in
the gap, and then stuck back onto the extension. The town museum in
Bere's Yard, opposite the church (Easter-Sept daily 11am-4pm; £1.50)
offers a pithy account of local history, while Mrs Penny's Cavalcade of
Costume at Lime Tree House, The Plocks (Easter-Sept Mon & Thurs-Sun
11am-5pm; Oct-Easter same days 11am-4pm; £3), presents over five hundred
items of costume and accoutrements from 1730 to the 1950s.
Blandford's tourist office is in the car park on West Street (Mon-Sat:
April-Oct 10am-5pm; Nov-March 10am-1pm; tel 01258/454770, ). There are
numerous B&Bs along Whitecliff Mill Street to choose from, or try Gone
Walkabout , at 3 Alexandra St (tel 01258/455699, 101454.1674@compuserve.com
; no smoking; under £40), a Georgian house close to the town centre
where walkers and cyclists are welcome. The local Hall & Woodhouse
brewery supplies many local inns - the Greyhound , in quiet Greyhound
Place (off Market Place), is a good-looking pub with outdoor seating and
great food.
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