Blandford Forum (St. Peter and St. Paul)

St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, Blandford Forum from East Street, March 2014.

Newman and Pevsner (p. 95) say that the centre of the Dorset town of Blandford Forum "forms one of the most satisfying Georgian ensembles anywhere in England". That this is so is the result of a great Tragedy, the destruction of much of the town centre's by fire in 1731. The rebuilding of the town was entrusted to William and John Bastard, two brothers who lived in the town.

The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul was built in 1733-9 by the Bastard brothers. Hutchins (1861, p. 224) describes it as "an elegant modern fabric."

Sources:

• Betjeman, J., Sir John Betjeman's guide to English parish churches, revised and updated by Nigel Kerr. London: HarperCollins, 1993, p. 180.
• Colvin, H.M., The Bastards of Blandford: architects and master-builders. Archaeological Journal, CIV, 1947, pp. 178-195.
• Cox, B., Around Blandford Forum in old photographs. Gloucester: Sutton, 1989.
• Cox, B.G., The book of Blandford Forum: the story of the town's past. Tiverton: Dorset Books, 1993.
• Cox, B.G., Blandford Forum: a pictorial history. Chichester: Phillimore, 1995.
• Dorset Historic Churches Trust, Dorset Churches. [Dorchester]: DHCT, 1988, p. 10.
• Hope, M., Dorset. In: Humphrey, S.C., ed., Blue guide: churches and chapels of southern England. London: Black; New York: Norton, 1991, pp. 188-189.
• Hutchins, J. The history and antiquities of the County of Dorset, 3rd ed., edited by W. Shipp and J.W. Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols, 1861-1873, Vol. 1, 1861, pp. 224-227.
• Jenkins, S. England's thousand best churches. London: Allen Lane, the Penguin Press, 1999, pp. 147-148.
• Mee, A., ed., Dorset: Thomas Hardy's country. The King's England. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1939, pp. 29-36.
• Newman, J. and Pevsner, N., The buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, p. 96-97.
• Pitfield, F.P., Dorset Parish Churches, A-D. Milborne Port: Dorset Publishing Company, 1981 , pp. 73-76.
• Royal Commission on Historical Monuments (England), An inventory of historical monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol. 3, Central Dorset. London: HMSO, 1970, Pt. 1, pp. 19-22.
• Sackett, T. and Sackett, E., Francis Frith's Dorset Churches. Salisbury: Frith Book Co., 2000, pp. 98-99.
• Webb, G., John and William Bastard, of Blandford. Burlington Magazine, Vol. 47, July-December 1925, pp. 144-150.

Bells:

8, 19-3-5 in E.

The Fire Monument

Blandford Forum Fire Monument, erected by John Bastard in 1760.

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Maintained by Michael Day, Last updated: 24 March 2014.