Bastard Brothers - Rebuilding of Blandford

Rebuilding of Blandford

On 4 June 1731 a fire destroyed the greater part of Blandford. John Bastard worked as a fire assessor before and after this fire, and a book survives in Dorset History Centre in which he detailed assessments from fires at Sturminster Newton Castle (1730), Affpuddle (1741), Beaminster (1741), Puddletown (1753) and Wareham (1762). The inventory for the fire at Blandford shows the losses of everyone in the town including the Corporation of the Borough of Blandford and the church. Bastard and Co. were the largest private losers.

The Blandford fire, which swept away the heart of a town that had evolved in a haphazard way from the medieval period, presented an opportunity for more regular redevelopment in the classical styles. However, with the exception of a widening the original market square, the fashionable Baroque style of town planning was ignored and the town was rebuilt on its former medieval street plan.

The first building to be completed in Blandford was the grandiose town hall, finished in 1734. Constructed, like much of their work, in the local Portland stone, the building is architecturally of interest because of its idiosyncrasies of style. While at first glance appearing to be a typical example of the Palladian style popular at the time, this is not truly the case. The ground floor is an open arcade of three segmented arches more typical of Renaissance Dutch and English market halls. The upper floor however, is in the highest Palladian tradition, as exemplified by Inigo Jones in his Banqueting House at Whitehall, the windows alternating with segmental and pointed pediments. The whole of the facade is surmounted by a uniting pediment, with a circular window at its centre. The design of the facade seems incomplete, as though flanking wings are missing. The provincial design of the building is again emphasised by the placement of three covered urns on the pediment redolent of the Baroque style which by the 1730s had already passed from its brief period of high fashion in England. The pediment appears heavy and lacks support from the pilasters which more urbane architects would have placed at either end of the facade.

The Town Hall, designed to provide a central feature to a row of houses, is typical of the work of the Bastard brothers, from which they were to make their fortune. They became entrepreneurs and local politicians. Other works by the Bastards in the town include the Church of St. Peter and St. Paul, built between 1733 and 1739; the market place around the town hall, designed in the classical style but not uniform; the Greyhound Inn (1734–35; now a bank), which was their own property; a terrace of almshouses; and many large private houses with classical facades, notably Spetisbury and Coupar House.

The rebuilding of the town was officially completed in 1760–a feat commemorated by a memorial in the form of a portico to the church, known as the Fire Monument. Pevsner describes this memorial as a "detailed tabernacle with Doric columns". This was designed and paid for by John Bastard, who had it engraved, somewhat immodestly, with the inscription "in grateful Acknowledgement of the Divine Mercy, that has raised this Town, like a phoenix from its ashes, to its present beautiful and flourishing State." However, the monument also has a more practical use, built above a piped spring: should a fire break out again it would supply a head of water for the attachment of fire hoses. The monument was converted into a drinking fountain in 1899.