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, including Stour House. 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. , rebuilt in 1734 After the post-fire reconstruction Blandford remained a thriving market town. and the arrival of the
coaching era increased the town's prosperity, Later in the 19th century, perhaps following the installation of piped water, more densely packed buildings were built to the northeast, replacing gardens and barracks for the poor (that had been erected following the fire) between the roads to Salisbury and
Wimborne Minster. Rail transport arrived in Blandford in the 1860s, though this did not impact greatly on the town's economy. ==Governance==