The cattle market

THE SALE and purchase of livestock was also a feature of commercial life in Bourne for many years, first in the town centre where sheep and pig pens and cattle stalls frequently lined the pavements and then in a purpose built cattle market behind the Town Hall.

From 1824, these sales were held three times a year but business was given an added impetus with the opening of the Bourne and Essendine railway in 1860 which provided a facility for bringing in livestock from a much wider area, and so a newly established stock market opened and was soon trading weekly. The large number of animals brought in for sale meant that the streets were unsuitable and a permanent site off Hereward Street was developed as a new cattle market for regular Thursday sales of livestock which operated well into the 20th century and there were often as many as 3,000 animals brought in for sale.

But signs of a decline in trade became apparent and in 1981, the cattle market closed after 120 years of trading, a victim of the changing trends and government regulations concerning the transport, sale and disposal of livestock. The site stood empty and forlorn for several years until builders moved in and turned it into Bourne's new market square and car park as part of the Burghley Centre development which opened in 1989.