Other churches

THE BOURNE Burial Board formed in 1854 purchased four acres of land in South Road for use as the town cemetery when the churchyard was declared to be full. A stipulation of the purchase was that a solid stone wall should be erected around the perimeter, built of locally made red bricks, and this remains in place today with stone markers at various points bearing the date 1855 when it was opened.

A stone building housing two chapels of rest, one for the established church and a second for other denominations, was built near the main road at the same time together with a lodge house for the cemetery keeper. In 1904, the cemetery was extended up to 5½ acres and in 1999 when land for further burial plots was exhausted, another two acres were added beyond the brick wall and this is known today as the new cemetery.

There is also a rose garden and a garden of remembrance for those who were cremated together with a large number of memorial seats, rose bushes, trees and shrubs marked with dedication plaques while the paths that crisscross the grounds are lined with well trimmed holly and yew trees and an occasional conifer with laurels around the boundary.

The cemetery is administered by Bourne Town Council and is open every day from sunrise to sunset. A Cemetery of the Year award has been won on two occasions for its neat and tidy appearance, in 2002 and again in 2006. Over 10,000 people are now buried there, the most frequent name being Smith which is mentioned over 200 times, followed by Lunn, Parker and Pick.

The stone lodge was demolished in 1960 and replaced by the present bungalow which is now used by cemetery staff as an office while the chapel was closed in 2004 because it had become unsafe although attempts by the town council to pull the building down were prevented when it was given a Grade II listing.

A voluntary organisation, Bourne Preservation Trust, is now negotiating for a lease in order that it can be restored and brought back into useful life. In 2010, the town council acquired another four acres of land to ensure that there is enough space for burials in the future.

The town cemetery today