THE ROYAL FAMILY AND DORCHESTER

by | Sep 9, 2024 | Blog

THE ROYAL FAMILY AND DORCHESTER Ian Gosling, Chair of Dorchester Civic Society As far as I have been able to establish the first royal visitor to Dorchester was King John (1199-1216) who made frequent visits to the town between 1204 and 1214, where he resided in the...

THE BASTARD BROTHERS IN DORCHESTER

by | Aug 19, 2024 | Blog

We have been asked on several occasions if any of the eighteenth-century houses in the centre of Dorchester were designed or built by the Bastard Brothers of Blandford Forum. Who were the Bastards? The Bastards’ firm was founded in the late 17th century by Thomas...

HORSES: THEIR IMPACT ON THE TOWN

by | Apr 16, 2024 | Blog, Uncategorized

Until the end of the First World War Dorchester would have been full of horses, mounted by their owners, pulling the carriages of the wealthy and the middle classes, hauling goods waggons and the carts of tradesmen, farmers and common carriers and, of course, the...

DORCHESTER’S STREETS AND UTILITIES

by | Apr 16, 2024 | Blog, Uncategorized

DORCHESTER’S STREETS AND UTILITIES The earliest bylaw I have found dealing with public hygiene in Dorchester dates from 12th January 1693 when the Quarter Sessions Court sitting in the Borough ordered, “that every Inhabitant within this Borough in every Street thereof...

Dorchester Jails

by | Feb 7, 2024 | Blog

DORCHESTER JAILS (by Ian Gosling) The original gaol was said to be situated on the corner of Icen Way and High East Street, then called Gaol Lane, on a site which was rebuilt in the mid-18th century. It was close to Gallows Hill, at the other end of Gaol Lane, where...