We need your help to secure the future of the Museum
The Bastards’ House, one of the most important buildings in Blandford, is expected to go to auction in the near future. The sale will include the Museum building, which houses our collection and archives, and the Victorian Garden, which provides a vital source of income from our events and plant sales. These have been leased to us for many years at generous terms by the current owner, the William Williams Charity, so the sale presents a real threat to our future viability. However, it also provides a very real opportunity: if we can raise the funds to buy the building and convert it to a new Blandford Town Museum and Arts Centre, we can ensure the future of this important asset for the community of Blandford.
But we need your help! Here are some things you can do to help us secure the future of our wonderful museum
- Support our events (coffee mornings, Last Fridays etc.) – this is always very welcome but will not be enough to meet this challenge!
- Donations of skills and experience – please contact us if you are able to give practical help e.g. fundraising, planning, commercial and legal advice, etc…
- Pledges of future support if our bid is successful – Please click here to pledge.
Background and details
We have been advised that the William Williams charity, the owners of Bere’s Yard, plan to sell it at auction in the near future. The area to be sold is edged in red in the plan on the right; it includes the Bastards’ House (pink), the residential properties (blue), and importantly to the Museum, the museum building (gold), and the gravel area beyond and the Victorian garden (green).
Whilst the Museum holds a 20-year lease on the building, this does not cover the gravel area and garden so we could potentially lose the right to use both of these following a change of ownership. Our immediate aim, therefore, is to retain access to all of these areas so that we can continue our current functions and activities in the short to medium term. But the opportunity we now have to take ownership of the Bastard House is too good not to be considered. The Trustees have been considering possible ways forward, the most ambitious of which would be to take ownership of the whole property, allowing us to acquire the space we have been needing for so long.
Obviously there are many things to consider, not least of which is how we would pay for the purchase of the property and the substantial work required to convert it into the museum of our dreams. This is why we are reaching out now to our membership and the wider community, as well as external funding organisations, for support in meeting these challenges and creating a strong, secure and sustainable future for the museum in the 21st century. We want to make sure this building is in public use for not only the 300th anniversary of the Blandford Fire in 2031, but for the 400th anniversary!
Why is this building so important?
The house was built for and by the architects John and William Bastard, who drove the rebuilding of Blandford after the devastating 1731 fire and are responsible for much of its distinctive appearance in the present day. Its position at the heart of the town centre, both historically and geographically, makes it ideally suited to an important new role that will serve the community far into the future. The conservation, repair and restoration of the Bastard Building and Bere’s Yard has the potential to invigorate the Market Place and the commercial centre of Blandford, and to attract visitors from all over the world to the town. As an expanded Blandford Town Museum and Arts Centre, the building will become a focus for the artistic and material culture of our area, continuing to collect, conserve, research, and tell Blandford’s many stories to our residents and visitors.
