It is reckoned there has been a Crown Hotel on the current site in Blandford since at least the 17 th Century. After the Great Fire of Blandford in 1731, the Crown Hotel had to be completely rebuilt. While highwayman John Poulter subsequently claimed that in 1762 he had stolen gold, silver and other valuables from the hotel which he had taken away to London. Arrival of the horse-drawn coaching era much benefitted the Crown and the nearby Red Lion and Greyhound Hotels. For Blandford was on a main coaching route between Exeter and London. A coach known as the Blandford Flyer claimed it could transport its passengers to the capital in just two days. By 1820, the town was also a stopping point for horse drawn coaches to Brighton, Portsmouth, Bath and Plymouth. This traffic required the building of extensive stables and outbuildings at the rear of the hotel. In 1859, before the opening of Blandford station, there was a ‘ well-appointed’ horse drawn omnibus which left the Crown Hotel e
In addition to the threat of German bombing during World War II, Blandford also suffered from an infestation of rats. This infestation resulted in a bizarre incident witnessed by a local businessman and Town Mayor. Late one night he was counting the multitude of rationing coupons that he had collected that week when he experienced an amazing sight. He was working in his grocer’s shop at the corner of the Market Place and Salisbury Street when he heard a loud swishing noise. He put out his light and lifted the wartime blackout curtain. It was a moonlit night and he could clearly see hundreds of brown rats marching from the river through the Greyhound Yard and up Salisbury Street. Another man witnessed this army of rats and was so shaken he fell off his bicycle. It appears that at the time large quantities of corn were stored in the Blandford Station Yard and when river levels were low the rats would go to the yard to supplement their diet. There was much discussion at Blandford Ru