Crafts style which was adapted to reflect the distinctive character of vernacular architecture in the area by the architects Halsey Ricardo and Leslie MacDonald Gill. Bladen Valley represents an interesting example of a 'model' estate, which has been listed in its entirety. Unusually, the house numbers in the village were based on the order in which rent was collected, rather that the more traditional sequence of odd and even numbers. The Bladen Farms were an experiment to prove that under modern conditions it was possible for Dorset to produce a larger proportion of home-grown foods, especially of animal origin, than it did previously. Ernest Debenham argued that this would "readjust the balance of population and enable a larger number of workers to live on the land". His plan was to support smaller neighbouring farms with special facilities that could provide economies of scale. This 'demonstration farm' replaced "middlemen and intermediaries" and the project was very successful at pasteurisation and other successes included egg production, electricity generation and selective breeding of livestock (as a result of which many prize winning sheep and cattle were produced), forestry, bee-keeping, and a farm veterinary service. Following Debenham's death in 1952 the estate was broken up and sold. Notable buildings The dairy (known locally as 'the Ring') was the first to have large scale milking machines installed in Dorset. In the 1920s up to 1,000 gallons of milk a day were brought in from surrounding farms for processing and bottling. There is no longer any dairy farm, most local dairy enterprise having succumbed to the complex milk monopoly. Beef production has replaced dairying as a much smaller income for local farmers, as well as horse farming. The village hall is a former barn which once formed part of Briantspuddle Farm (No. 26). It was rebuilt in 1803 by James Frampton, converted by Debenham and purchased by the parish Council in 1953. Cruck cottage is the oldest building in the village, thought to be late fifteenth century in origin. It is so called because it has the original cruck beam from ground to roof. The sculptor and artist Eric Gill (whose brother Leslie MacDonald Gill designed several houses in the village as architect in residence 1914–19) was commissioned by Ernest Debenham to sculpt the 'Madonna and Child' war memorial in situ starting in January 1918 and completing the work an August. A column of Portland stone,