Day schools

ORGANISED education began in Bourne during the 14th century with the establishment of the first school but little is known about it. A new grammar school was opened in 1638, three centuries later, on land next to the Abbey Church with money left to the town by a wealthy landowner, William Trollope. This may also have been the site of the original building and that Mr Trollope’s bequest was used to modernise and replace it, so laying the foundations of the education system that we have today.

The school was rebuilt forty years later and survives to this day but is now known as the Old Grammar School. It was for boys only because in those days it was not thought worthwhile to educate the girls and parents had to pay for their lessons which meant that only rich people could afford to send their sons to be taught.

There was only one schoolroom which was heated by a wood fire but was very cold in winter and the only place pupils could play was in the churchyard although sometimes they roamed the streets between lessons and caused trouble in the town. In 1861, the headmaster, William Webber, persuaded the church authorities to provide a strip of land for a play area and at the same time new seating for pupils was installed. The lessons were strict but thorough and many of the pupils went on to Oxford and Cambridge universities and became successful in their careers.

The school closed through lack of support in 1904 and was used for various activities after that, as an ambulance station and as a meeting place for the scouts and guides, but the building has been unsafe and out of bounds since 2003 and it is hoped that someone will buy it and restore it for community use.

The first free school open to everyone without paying fees was the National School in North Street which opened in 1829 and was financed with grants from various churches and money raised by townspeople through fund-raising events. The building remained in use until our present schools were built when it was sold and is now the Conservative Party headquarters.

The Star Lane Board School followed in 1877 when it was built on the site of an old orchard, later to become the Abbey Primary School. There was originally room for nearly 500 boys and girls and in those days each had their own entrances which can still be seen today.

They were also taught apart in different classes and had separate playgrounds. Although schooling was strict, pupils were often absent through illness which was frequent, and as this was a farming area, their parents insisted that they work on the land to earn money helping with the harvest. This became such a frequent occurrence and classes so reduced in size as a result that in 1918, the school shut for four weeks for potato picking, a closure that became known as the harvest holiday.

The school premises have now been extended and modernised with all of the latest teaching aids and the addition of new classrooms, a kitchen and canteen and by 2010 its name and status had changed to the Abbey Church of England Primary Academy and is considered to be one of the best in Lincolnshire.

Abbey Primary School in 1900

There was for a time a national school in Willoughby Road, built in 1857 with room for 200 boys and girls and known as the Eastgate School. It closed in 1903 and after a spell as a mission church and later as a storeroom, the building was pulled down in 1960 to make way for a new housing estate.

Bourne Grammar School dates from 1920 when it began life as a co-educational secondary school, first in temporary premises at the Vestry Hall in North Street before moving the following year to its present site in South Road. The original classrooms were old wooden army huts which were meant to be temporary but remained in use for another seventy years, hot in summer and cold and draughty in winter but essential to enable the school become established.

More permanent accommodation was built over the years as the number of pupils increased to create the modern and well-equipped school we know today, one that has achieved excellence in many spheres, particularly the performing arts, while its scholastic performance has also progressed year by year, at O and A level, and a significant number of students annually gain admission to the various universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, while the school enjoys an enviable reputation in the locality and beyond.

Our other large school is Bourne Academy, formerly the Robert Manning College, began life when the primary school in Abbey Road became too cramped to cope with the expanding number of pupils and in 1946 half of them moved to a site in Queen’s Road. The accommodation was a series of wooden huts until the main school opened in 1958 when it became independent as a secondary modern school but after many name changes and the addition of several large buildings it has been transformed into its present status specialising in technology and vocational training with a pupil roll well in excess of 1,000.

As more families moved into Bourne during the second half of the 20th century, another school was needed for infant and junior children and a site was chosen on the western side of town where so many of the new houses were being built. Westfield Primary Academy was opened as a primary school in September 1975 and this too has grown considerably over the years as the town continues to expand.

We also have the Willoughby School in South Road, opened in 1980 as a special school catering for students aged from two to 19 with learning difficulties. It has grown significantly since then in terms of pupils, staff and buildings, with a major rebuilding programme and refurbishment in 2005 which doubled the size of the premises.

Education today is one of the blessings of our modern society and it is a privilege that we are able to attend and learn in such a pleasant and comfortable environment compared with the early schools that began almost 200 years ago.

All of those in Bourne today have achieved excellent reputations throughout the county and places for pupils are so highly sought after that some parents move from their present homes, in many cases long distances away, in order that their children can attend. It is therefore essential that precious time spent at school should not become wasted years.

Pupils at the Eastgate School in 1890