Benjamin Bastard

Benjamin Bastard was a British architect during the first half of the 18th century working in the Dorset area of England.

A member of a notable family of west country architect-surveyors and masons, he was related [1] to the Bastard brothers who rebuilt Blandford Forum following its great fire of 1731.

However, the facade, with its central pediment and the balustrade concealing the roof line are devoid of ornament in the Palladian tradition.

In 1743 Bastard was commissioned to design a hospital for the reception of the poor, later known as the Dorchester parish workhouse.

[3] This building has been much altered but the original block can still be discerned as Palladian, albeit in a very severe and chaste form as would have been thought fitting for such an institution at the time.