Блэндфорд-Форум: Англияның Дорсет округындағы тарихи қаласы

Market Town in Dorset, England

Blandford Forum ('/b//l//æ//n//f//ər//d/ BLANfərd) is a market town in Dorset, England, by the River Stour 13 mile (21 km) northwest of Poole. It had a population of 10,355 at the 2021 census. The town is notable for its Georgian architecture, the result of rebuilding after a major fire in 1731, which was assisted by an Act of Parliament and a donation by George II, to designs by local architects John and William Bastard. The town's economy is based on a mix of the service sector and light industry. Blandford Camp, a military base, is on the hills 2 mile (3 km) north east of the town. It is the base of the Royal Corps of Signals, the communications wing of the British Army, and the site of the Royal Signals Museum.

Blandford has been a fording point on the River Stour since Anglo Saxon times. The name Blandford derives from the Old English blǣge, and probably means ford where gudgeon or blay are found. The name Blaneford or Bleneford is recorded in the Domesday Book, referring not to Blandford Forum itself but to the adjacent villages of Bryanston and Blandford St Mary on the opposite side of the ford, and Langton Long Blandford further downstream. By the 13th century, the settlement on the north bank of the river had become a market town with a livestock market serving the nearby Blackmore Vale with its many dairy farms. At the start of the 14th century it returned two members of parliament and was also known as Cheping Blandford, where Cheping or Chipping refers to a market. The Latin translation Forum was first recorded in 1540. In Survey of Dorsetshire, written by Thomas Gerard of Trent in the early 1630s, Blandford was described as "a faire Markett Towne, pleasantlie seated upon the River well inhabitted and of good Traffique". In the 17th century English Civil War Blandford was a Royalist centre; most inhabitants supported the king. In the 18th century Blandford was one of several lace making centres in the county; Daniel Defoe stated that lace made in the town was "the finest bonelace in England I think I never saw better in Flanders, France or Italy". In the 17th and 18th centuries Blandford was also a malting and brewing centre of some significance. Almost all of Blandford's buildings were destroyed on 4 June 1731 by the "great fire", which was the last of several serious fires that occurred in the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. The fire began in a tallow chandler's workshop on a site that is now The King's Arms public house. Within a few hours, almost 90% of the town's fabric had gone; all fire fighting equipment had been lost to the fire and the church's lead roof had melted. Even properties west of the river in Blandford St Mary and Bryanston were burned, though notable buildings that survived in the town include the Ryves Almshouses and Dale House in Salisbury Street, Old House in The Close, and much of East Street. An Act of Parliament was introduced that stated that rebuilding work must be in brick and tile and should begin within four years. With assistance from the rest of the country—including £1,000 given by King George II—the town was rebuilt over the next ten years to the designs of local architects John and William Bastard. Bottlenecks were removed and streets realigned in the new town plan, which also provided a wider market place. As well as residential and commercial property, new buildings included a new town hall, school and church. The redesigned town centre has survived to the present day virtually intact. After the post fire reconstruction Blandford remained a thriving market town. and the arrival of the coaching era increased the town's prosperity, Rail transport arrived in Blandford in the 1860s, though this did not impact greatly on the town's economy.

In the United Kingdom national parliament, Blandford is in the North Dorset parliamentary constituency whose current Member of Parliament (MP) is Simon Hoare of the Conservative party. At the top tier of local government Blandford ward is governed by Dorset Council, which provides all services apart from those provided by Blandford Forum Town Council, which has responsibilities that include outdoor fitness and play areas, CCTV, the cemetery and allotments, venue hire, the indoor market, grass cutting and grit bins. For electoral purposes on the town level Blandford is divided into four electoral wards: Blandford Central, Blandford Hilltop, Blandford Langton St. Leonards and Blandford Old Town. A fifth ward, Riversdale and Portman, covers Bryanston and Blandford St Mary west of the river; these are not within the parish of Blandford, but the town's built up area extends into Blandford St Mary parish. In national parliamentary elections these five wards are joined with 22 others that together elect the Member of Parliament for the North Dorset constituency. In town council elections Blandford's four wards together elect thirteen councillors to Blandford Forum Town Council; Blandford Central ward elects seven councillors, and the other three wards each elect three.

Blandford is situated between Cranborne Chase and the Dorset Downs, to the south east of the Blackmore Vale, 13 mile (21 km) northwest of Poole and 22 mile (35 km) south west of Salisbury. It is sited in the valley of the River Stour, mostly on rising ground northeast of the river, but with some development south of the river at Blandford St Mary. The underlying geology is Cretaceous chalk bedrock that in places is overlain by Quaternary drift: alluvium in the river's flood plain, head deposits around the town's south west, south and south east borders, and clay with flints at the highest part of the town in the north. The town is almost surrounded by land that has been designated as having landscape value of national significance: the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) to the west and the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs AONB to the north and east.

Important sectors in Blandford's economy include public administration, education and health (41% of non agricultural employment), distribution, accommodation and food (25% of non agricultural employment) and production and construction (19% of non agricultural employment). In 2012 there were 3,900 people working in the town, 55% of whom worked full time and 45% part time. Between July 1997 and July 2013 the unemployment rate for residents of working age varied between 0.5% and 2.5%. There are five industrial estates and business parks in and around the town: Blandford Heights Industrial Estate (9.47 hectares or 23.4 acres), Holland Way Industrial Estate (7.32 hectares or 18.1 acres), Sunrise Business Park (5.6 hectares or 14 acres), Uplands Industrial Park (1.34 hectares or 3.3 acres) and Clump Farm Industrial Estate (1.30 hectares or 3.2 acres). Major employers that are funded by government include Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust and the communications wing of the British Army, the Royal Corps of Signals, In 2005 there were 110 shops in the town, with a total floorspace of Boots, Homebase and WHSmith.

Blandford lies at the junction of the A350 and A354 main roads but is skirted by an eastern bypass. The main road running through the town is the B3082, connecting Blandford Forum to Wimborne Minster. Blandford Forum is around 33 mile (53 km) southwest of junction 1 of the M27 motorway at Cadnam. Buses run from the town to locations including Poole, Bournemouth, Salisbury and Shaftesbury with the primary operator being Wilts & Dorset. Blandford is from Bournemouth Airport and from Poole railway station. From 1860 to 1966, Blandford Forum was a stop on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, which ran from Bath to Bournemouth, though until the bridge was built over the river Stour, opening in 1863, the Dorset Central section of the line terminated at the hamlet of Blandford St. Mary. Blandford Forum railway station, along with the whole line, closed to passengers in 1966. Located between Templecombe and Broadstone, the railway was still open until the closure of the Blandford's goods yard in 1969, after which the track was lifted. The station was immortalised in 1964 in the song "Slow Train" by Flanders and Swann. Blandford Camp was served by a short lived three mile branch line, which left the main line just north of the river bridge. This operated intermittently from 1918 to 1928. The town also hosts an annual carnival and the Great Dorset Steam Fair is held at nearby Tarrant Hinton. There are three museums in Blandford and its vicinity: Blandford Town Museum in Bere's Yard, Blandford Fashion Museum in The Plocks, and the Royal Signals Museum at Blandford Camp military base. Blandford Town Museum has no admission charge but is not open on Sundays or during the winter. It has artefacts from the history of the town and the surrounding area, and a small Victorian garden that was created in 2008. Blandford Fashion Museum has collections of fashions between the early 18th century and the 1970s; it is also closed in the winter. Blandford features in Thomas Hardy's novels as the Wessex town of Shottesford Forum. Blandford Forum railway station which is now gone – the train line to Blandford was removed in the 1960s – was mentioned in the 1963 song Slow Train by Flanders and Swann. Local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent on 103.8 FM, Greatest Hits Radio South (formerly Wessex FM) on 96.6 FM and BFBS Radio, which broadcasts on 89.3FM from a studio at the military base as part of its UK Bases network. Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian. Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter and the local relay transmitter situated in Winterborne Stickland. BBC West and ITV West Country can also be received from the Mendip TV transmitter.

Blandford Forum has a Non League football club, Blandford United F. C., who play at Blandford Recreation Ground. Blandford Bowls Club play in several men's and women's leagues and have a six rinks green, also on the recreation ground on Milldown Road. Blandford Cricket Club has three men's teams that play in divisions in a local county league, plus several youth teams that compete in the North Dorset Junior leagues. The club has its own cricket ground at the top of Whitecliff Mill Street. Blandford Rugby Football Club are based at facilities beside the leisure centre at The Blandford School.

Blandford Community Hospital on Milldown Road provides minor and day surgery, occupational therapy, outpatient and community rehabilitation services, palliative care, community mental health services and physiotherapy. Blandford Library, located on The Tabernacle, has music and feature films for hire as well as books, and has internet access and reference works available. Public open spaces in Blandford include Park Road Recreation Ground, which has football and cricket pitches and associated pavilions, and Larksmead Playing Field, which has two rugby pitches, and is the home of Blandford Rugby Club. There are also local authority controlled football and rugby union pitches at The Blandford School in Milldown Road. Next to the main post office in the town centre is Woodhouse Gardens, a small public garden that contains a pavilion that can be hired for events.

The Blandford fly (Simulium posticatum), a small (2–3 mm) biting fly belonging to the family Simuliidae or "blackflies" lives in the area. In recent years the weed beds in the river have been sprayed to reduce numbers. Blandford Elm (Ulmus glabra Huds. 'Superba') is a (now rare) very large leaved wych cultivar, first raised by nurseryman Gill of Blandford Forum in the early 1840s, and distributed by nurseries in the UK, Europe and the USA. Only one specimen is known to survive (2020), in Edinburgh.

Blandford is the birthplace of three eighteenth century bishops: William Wake (1657–1737), Archbishop of Canterbury; Thomas Lindesay (1656–1724), Archbishop of Armagh; and Samuel Lisle (1683–1749), Bishop of Norwich. as were Reginald Heber Roe (1850–1926), the first vice chancellor of the University of Queensland, and the surgeon Sir Alfred Downing Fripp. Sir Roy Welensky (1907–1991), Prime Minister of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland from 1956 until 1963, lived in Blandford from 1981 until his death.