On the ground floor of the Museum, objects and artefacts from Blandford and the surrounding area trace a timeline from the 20^th century back to prehistoric times. The exhibits include a 19th century dolls’ house, several longcase (“Grandfather”) clocks, reconstructions of a local forge and a cobbler’s workshop, a diorama depicting the fire that destroyed most of the town in 1731, mediaeval tiles and pottery, Roman remains, and the skeleton of a Bronze age dog.

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A view of the ground floor of the Museum showing the cobbler’s workshop and part of the Georgian section, including a clock by Robert Hood of Blandford.

The pictures below show just a few of our exhibits; there are lots more to explore…

Some of our 20th century exhibits will be familiar to older visitors!

This Victorian Dolls’ House was made by Charles de Lacy, who modelled it after the Georgian house opposite his in Grosvenor Street, London.

An apothecary’s 2-pan balance and weights from the 19th century. On the left is a £5 note from Blandford Bank, payable to Henry Seymour in 1857.

This cushion is made of velvet and satin, with pins spelling out “Merry Xmas” on the sides. Pin-decorated items like this were often made as gifts in the Victorian era.

A couple of our Georgian items. The barometer (left) is signed “John Bastard, Blandford”. The silkwork map (right) was made in 1784 by Mary Dean from Blandford School.

Part of our 18th century display. The map marks the houses which were destroyed by the Great Fire of 1731.

These Roman coins from around 350 CE (AD) were found by a metal detectorist in Blandford St Mary. The early Bronze age axe head and part of a Roman brooch were found at Ash Oaks Farm.

This skeleton of a Bronze Age dog was excavated during the building of the Blandford Bypass. Comparison with skulls from other canids shows that it had wolfish characteristics.

Part of the palaeontology and archeology display, featuring our earliest Human ancestors from the Australopitheciae family.

The first floor of the museum features themed exhibits from the local area: antique musical instruments, yesterday’s technology, a Victorian kitchen scullery, militaria from the English civil war to WW2, Wartime Blandford, and Nepal and the Gurkhas. We also have a working model railway, recalling Blandford station which closed to passenger trains in 1966.

This part of the museum has been closed for several months as we have been renovating the exhibits and installing new display cabinets. It is now open again, and this page will be updated soon to reflect these changes and highlight more of the exhibits.

This scale model of the former Blandford Station and goods yard represents years of work by the Museum Railway Club. It features authentic OO gauge locomotives and rolling stock which run automatically around the track.

The Museum’s collection of WW I and WW II artefacts includes objects from everyday life, and maps showing the physical features still scattered about the town.

The Victorian scullery contains many household items that are still seen in kitchens today – and many that are not!

If you would like more information about any of our exhibits, and are unable to visit the Museum, please contact us and we will do our best to help.

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