Blandford Forum Parish Church Open Days and Roof Tours

The church building is, for the time being, only open on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday mornings, so these 3 days are a good time to see inside the building. Although we do quite often take tours around the building and into the roof space, this is the only chance you will get of taking one for free! You will get a brief history of the church and a chance to admire the newly repainted and regilded apse ceiling and then will be taken up a small, stone, spiral staircase to the ringing chamber, the clock chamber and then to walk above the nave ceiling in the ‘attic’.

If you visit on the morning of Saturday 13, you will be lucky and find refreshments on sale.

So come and explore St Peter & St Paul's Church, (Grade 1 Listed) rebuilt following the Great Fire of Blandford in 1731 & reopened in 1739. One of the most important Georgian churches outside London, it was placed on the Historic England ‘At Risk’ register in 2012. Work has been taken to redress this situation; the tower and the cupola have been gloriously restored & saved for future generations; the accessibility of the building via the west door has been improved; and now a major repair of the roof has just been completed with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and others. The work also included internal restoration of the plasterwork and in particular the apse ceiling.

There will also be displays of the wonderful Architectural drawings that have been produced for the various projects

Timings & Tours

Friday 12 September:

1000 - 1600. Roof tour at 1400

Saturday 13 September:

1000 - 1600. Roof tour at 1100

Sunday 14 September:

Church services 0900 - 12noon. Open from 1200 - 1600

Location & directions

St Peter & St Paul's Church, Church Lane, Blandford Forum, Dorset, DT11 7AD

Contact on day:

Sara Loch 07985 090360

Telephone number:

+447985090360

Booking information

Pre-booking requirement:

Pre-booking preferred

Booking conditions:

Please book, if possible for the roof tours as there are limited places. The tour ascends and descends a narrow, stone, spiral staircase with no handrail and necessitates being able to stoop to go out a little door.

Booking contact name:

Sara

Booking telephone number:

+447985090360

Booking email:

[email protected]

Booking opens:

01 Sep 2025 12:00 AM

Booking closes:

13 Sep 2025 04:00 PM

Accessibility details

Please note that this is a “working” church – open access may be restricted. All enquiries to [email protected] Partial Disabled Access. There are 7 levels within the church. Uneven floors.

Additional information

Max no of people per tour:

10

Est. tour duration:

1 hour(s)

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