Puddletown Then & Now
A project 20 years in the making
In 2005, the Puddletown Society put together a CD of snapshots of the village. This was to create a lasting record “before a rapid increase in building development erased all memories of what was there before”.
Ten years later, the book form of the project was published. It featured ‘old’ images alongside their more recent equivalents.
And now, fast-forward another 10 years, the Society are pleased to be giving this project new wings in digital form for all to see.
“We would like to thank the below Puddletown Society compilers and editors for creating this record of the village. I look forward to this digital format creating a snapshot of life in the village today.
Shirley Parker, Janet Ranger-Dennis, Kevin Bumby, David Grenfell, Bill Maunder, Ian Miller”
November 2025
Diana Hooper
Puddletown Society Chairperson
The following images and extracts are taken from the Puddletown Then and Now (2015) book, with some updated images from 2025. Click on each area of the village to discover how these places have changed over time.
1. The Square
Now (2015)
Then (1891)
The old photograph taken in 1891 shows the centre of Puddletown much as Thomas Hardy would have remembered it. The modernisation of the village by John Brymer from 1862 produced some fine gothic buildings, but Fore Street, as this was known at the time, remained largely unchanged.
On the left is "Stephens' Shop", with its distinctive Venetian window, the entrance to which was to the left of the main door.
The shop was the village general store and later became a team room and guest house.
Heather Mears remembers "George the Ghost". Robin and Heather ran the shop from 1977 to 1995 and also supplied bed and breakfast. One guest said that the house "had a presence" and that it was George looking for his wife. Robin had a rocking chair which one night rocked on its own! In the morning they found brown bread on the floor, while the white bread was untouched.
Adapted from p. 53.
2. Top of Mill Street
Now (2025)
Then (late 1800s)
This photograph shows the view from the top of Mill Street from its junction with the High Street. George William Gillingham, sadler and harness maker, is first listed in Kelly's Trade Directory in 1880. Philip Henry Hawkins took over the business in 1894 and continued for forty years until his retirement in 1934.
The business was transferred to his eldest son, William Frederick Hawkins.
The old saddler's shop is today the Antique Map and Book Shop run by Tristan Proctor, whose father opened the shop in 1978.
On the right is the Reading Room, build in 1870 by John Brymer, open to the young men of the village for their recreation. It was supplied with books, two billiard tables and other games.
Adapted from p. 7
3. Blandford Road junction
Now (2025)
Then (?)
In the earlier photograph one can see the original extent of the servants' quarters belonging to Puddletown House (or Ilsington Cottage as it was previously known) which were reduced in size to accomodate a road-widening scheme in the 1970s.
The large building on the right was at one time the Post Office. The business moved next door when the post master, Mr. F. J. Wray, retired. Later, in the mid 1990s, the Post Office was incorporated into the Village Shop.
Further along can be seen the thatched building known as Pirstone Cottage but it was then a sweet shop, run by Miss Evelyn Hewlett. The entrance was later bricked up and a new entrance put in at the side.
Adapted from p. 9
4. High Street (East)
Now (2025)
Then (late 1800s)
The cottages, brick on the south and stone on the north, were built by John Brymer, starting in the mid-1860s, to replace the thatched cottages which had been described as "hovels in a parlous state". The new properties, although built directly onto the High Street, had long gardens at the rear to provide ample space for vegetables, chickens and, possibly, a pig.
The bricks were made locally and the style of building became known as "Puddletown Gothic".
Further on the right hand side can be seen the thatched roof of the original Prince of Wales Inn.
Adapted from p. 31
5. New Street
Now (2025)
Then (?)
Despite its name this is an old road which has been in existence since at least the early eighteenth century when it was recorded in the Rev. Dr. Dawnay's notebook of 1724. He recorded all the houses in the village together with the names of the householders and their families. New Street was recorded then as having six houses on the western side and sixteen on the eastern (the side visible in the photographs). The inhabitants' circumstances ranged from a farmer, Henry Sherwing, to occasional "idle" pauper families.
Adapted from p. 45