diff --git a/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/dummy_stage.py b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/dummy_stage.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6ce16e7d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/openflexure_microscope_server/things/dummy_stage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,98 @@
+from __future__ import annotations
+from labthings_fastapi.descriptors.property import PropertyDescriptor
+from labthings_fastapi.thing import Thing
+from labthings_fastapi.decorators import thing_action, thing_property
+from labthings_fastapi.dependencies.invocation import CancelHook, InvocationCancelledError
+from collections.abc import Sequence, Mapping
+import time
+
+
+class DummyStage(Thing):
+    """A dummy stage for testing purposes
+    
+    This stage should work similarly to a Sangaboard stage, but without any
+    hardware attached.
+    """
+    _axis_names = ("x", "y", "z")
+
+    def __enter__(self):
+        pass
+
+    def __exit__(self, _exc_type, _exc_value, _traceback):
+        pass
+
+    @thing_property
+    def axis_names(self) -> Sequence[str]:
+        """The names of the stage's axes, in order."""
+        return self._axis_names
+
+    position = PropertyDescriptor(
+        Mapping[str, int],
+        {k: 0 for k in _axis_names},
+        description="Current position of the stage",
+        readonly=True,
+        observable=True,
+    )
+
+    moving = PropertyDescriptor(
+        bool,
+        False,
+        description="Whether the stage is in motion",
+        readonly=True,
+        observable=True,
+    )
+
+    @property
+    def thing_state(self):
+        """Summary metadata describing the current state of the stage"""
+        return {
+            "position": self.position
+        }
+    
+    @thing_action
+    def move_relative(self, cancel: CancelHook, block_cancellation: bool=False, **kwargs: Mapping[str, int]):
+        """Make a relative move. Keyword arguments should be axis names."""
+        displacement = [kwargs.get(k, 0) for k in self.axis_names]
+        self.moving = True
+        try:
+            fraction_complete = 0.0
+            max_displacement = max(abs(v) for v in displacement)
+            if block_cancellation:
+                time.sleep(0.001 * max_displacement)
+            else:
+                start_time = time.time()
+                while time.time() - start_time < 0.001 * max_displacement:
+                    cancel.sleep(0.1)
+            fraction_complete = 1.0
+        except InvocationCancelledError as e:
+            # If the move has been cancelled, stop it but don't handle the exception.
+            # We need the exception to propagate in order to stop any calling tasks,
+            # and to mark the invocation as "cancelled" rather than stopped.
+            fraction_complete = (time.time() - start_time) / (0.001 * max_displacement)
+            raise e
+        finally:
+            self.moving=False
+            self.position = {
+                k: self.position[k] + int(fraction_complete * v)
+                for k, v in zip(self.axis_names, displacement)
+            }
+
+    @thing_action
+    def move_absolute(self, cancel: CancelHook, block_cancellation: bool=False, **kwargs: Mapping[str, int]):
+        """Make an absolute move. Keyword arguments should be axis names."""
+        displacement = {
+            k: int(v) - self.position[k] 
+            for k, v in kwargs.items()
+            if k in self.axis_names
+        }
+        self.move_relative(cancel, block_cancellation=block_cancellation, **displacement)
+        
+    @thing_action
+    def set_zero_position(self):
+        """Make the current position zero in all axes
+        
+        This action does not move the stage, but resets the position to zero.
+        It is intended for use after manually or automatically recentring the
+        stage.
+        """
+        self.position = {k: 0 for k in self.axis_names}