Bastard brothers

[8] 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.

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 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 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.

[11] 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.

[14] Sir Frederick Treves was not a fan of the church's appearance, describing it in his 1906 Highways & Byways in Dorset as "ugly, and only tolerable from a distance".

[17] 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."

When working on formal civic buildings they invariably attempted to design in the more modern Palladian style, Blandford's town hall exemplifies this.

Outside Blandford, the Bastards were responsible for joiner's and carver's work in Hazlegrove House, Somerset and at Lulworth Castle, Dorset (destroyed by fire in 1929).

John Bastard was employed, with the master-mason Francis Cartwright, to rebuild Crichel House, Dorset, for Sir William Napier.

Charlton Marshall was the home of the Horlock-Bastard family, where they had been country gentlemen since the time of the brother' s grandfather Thomas Bastard.

In Poole, a Grade I listed mansion house built in 1746 for the wealthy 18th century merchant Sir Peter Thompson, is attributed to John Bastard.

There are no records of any member of the Bastard family practising as architects after the first quarter of the 19th century[27] Although the brothers' work is in a provincial style, critics have evaluated it positively.