Bryan Browning

THE ARCHITECT Bryan Browning is not remembered by any plaque or street name in Bourne yet his lasting monument can be seen by all who pass through, namely the Town Hall.

There has been a building in the market place serving the town for centuries, not only as the centre of the community but also the place for the dispensation of justice through the petty and quarter sessions and the meetings of the various manorial courts that controlled land and property and heard grievances. The earliest reference to a town hall is in 1586 by the historian William Camden (1551-1623) in Britannia, his survey of the British Isles, which says that it was built by the Wake family and that the Cecil arms carved in basso-relief over the centre of the east front suggested that it was rebuilt by the Elizabethan statesman William Cecil (1520-98), the first Lord Burghley, who is reputed to have been born at a house nearby, now the Burghley Arms.

By the early 19th century, the town hall had become dilapidated and a site occupied by a house adjoining the Burghley Arms was chosen for a new building with a shambles or set of stalls underneath. Browning was asked to draw up the plans and he decided on an exterior staircase and recessed twin flights of steps within the front of the building that was to be constructed with Doric columns after the fashion of the Roman baths.

The project was financed with money raised through the county rate, from the sale of salvaged materials from the previous building on the site and from public subscription, with contributions not only from Bourne but also from neighbouring parishes such as Market Deeping, Morton and Haconby, which between them eventually raised just under £1,400. A large painted board containing the names of the original subscribers and the amount they contributed is still on display in the main courtroom. An agreement to build the Town Hall was eventually drawn up between the magistrates and the project's organising committee and Bryan Browning's architectural practice, Woolcott and Browning, of 54 Doughty Street, Stamford.

In the event, the total cost was £1,640 plus £811 15s. 1d. for extras that had been decided after the original plans had been approved. These included increasing the height of the building by 2 ft., extending the hall by 6 ft., constructing the front staircase in Portland instead of York stone and increasing the size of the prisoners' room underneath the building from 9 ft. to 14 ft. The tower and the clock, however, were financed separately as a gift to the town by Mrs Eleanor Frances Pochin, widow of George Pochin, who was Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots for 37 years from 1761-98, shortly before she died on 16th July 1823 at the age of 76.

The Town Hall was duly opened in 1821 and was soon in frequent use, not only as a court house but for many other varied events and has continued so in recent years although the grand dances that were a feature of Victorian life are now held at the Corn Exchange.

Apart from his professional life, Bryan Browning was a dedicated villager whose family made their mark at Thurlby, three miles south of Bourne, over a period of at least two centuries. His father, also Bryan Browning, died in 1803 and is buried in the churchyard at St Firmin's Church with several other members of the Browning family but his son is not there and the whereabouts of his grave is unknown.

By the time he designed the Town Hall, Bryan Browning had became an architect of some repute. He worked originally in London but returned to Lincolnshire and married a local girl, Miss Ruth Snart, in 1826 and practised from offices in Stamford in the early part of the 19th century. But his reputation was such that he won several prestige commissions apart from Bourne Town Hall including the House of Correction at Folkingham in 1825, although the only part that now remains is the gatehouse and governor’s mansion, preserved at the end of an impressive driveway with wrought iron gates and rented out as a holiday retreat by the Landmark Trust.

He also designed the Baptist Chapel in West Street in 1835 and the workhouses at Spalding, Stamford and Bourne, the latter being erected in 1836 at a cost of £5,350 with room for 300 paupers. The premises were converted for use as a mental hospital in 1930 and subsequently became known as St Peter’s Hospital but closed down 70 years later and the impressive red brick building was demolished in 2001 to make way for extensions to the printing plant occupied by Warners Midlands plc.

Browning was also responsible for considerable architectural work in Stamford including the layout of the Blackfriars Estate in 1840, the YMCA buildings, the re-modelling of Barn Hill House in 1843 and work on St Mary's Church, Grant's iron foundry and Byard House in St Paul's Street.

In 1840, he was retained by the Marquess of Exeter as architect for the Burghley Estate at a salary of £140 per annum. His son Edward (1816-1882) also trained as an architect and became equally successful, designing the stone bridge erected over the River Welland on the main road into Stamford in 1849, much renovation work on local churches, including Bourne Abbey, extensive alterations to the parish church at Uffington in 1866 and the small Victorian apsidal chapel at St Andrew's Church, Sempringham, in 1869. He was also chosen to design the Ostler memorial fountain in 1860 dedicated to a local worthy that once stood in Bourne market place but because of traffic problems was moved in 1962 to the town cemetery where it can still be seen.

Today, the Town Hall remains the centrepiece of civic life, serving in recent years as a magistrates' court, the local offices of South Kesteven District Council and Bourne Town Council. After the Abbey Church, it is the most impressive stone building in Bourne and was listed Grade II when the town’s conservation area was designated in July 1977. Although Browning’s work has not been recognised in the past, the naming of the new retirement homes in Manning Road will rectify this omission because the complex is to be known as Browning Court.

NOTE: This article was published by The Local newspaper on Friday 2nd March.