Blandford Forum

Blandford Forum is a market town on the River Stour in north Dorset, 13 miles north-west of Poole and 22 miles south-west of Salisbury. It began as a fording point over the river, and the 2021 census counted 10,607 residents.

A fire in 1731 destroyed nearly the whole town. It was rebuilt over the following ten years to designs by the local architects John and William Bastard, who also built the Town Hall and the church of St Peter and St Paul around the Market Place. The result is often described as the most complete surviving Georgian country town in England. Blandford Town Museum, in Bere’s Yard, covers the history of the town. It is run by volunteers, so check its hours before you go.

The town market runs on Thursdays and Saturdays in the Market Place, with an indoor market on Thursdays in the Corn Exchange. A craft market takes place at The Shambles on the second and fourth Friday of the month.

For walkers, the North Dorset Trailway follows an old railway line for 9 miles between Blandford and Sturminster Newton. It is flat and surfaced, so it suits pushchairs and bikes as well as boots. Hod Hill, an Iron Age hillfort with a later Roman camp inside it, is 3 miles north-west of the town and has public access. Hambledon Hill, another hillfort, is about 5 miles north-west.