THE GUN CULTURE has largely disappeared from our society but it played an important role in years past when the ability to handle a rifle was considered an essential part of manhood and a necessary attribute for young men about to enlist in time of war.

The late 19th century, when firearms were still a novelty, is a potent period in our history in the training of marksmanship when accuracy was an achievement and most towns and cities had a rifle range to develop these skills.

Facilities for shooting practice were therefore seen as an inducement to recruiting and rifle ranges became popular, being used by both military units and civilian clubs.

Such a facility was provided by Lord Willoughby on the Grimsthorpe estate. It was used by the 15th Lincolnshire Company from 1861 until the unit disbanded in 1873 and in April 1890, the range was made available to the Bourne Rifle Corps that had been formed two years before, drawing its members from the Bourne district and from Billingborough.

"It forms one of the safest and prettiest inland ranges in the country", said a local newspaper at the time. "The range extends 900 yards in front of the target, one and a quarter miles in the rear, and its width is 500 yards. The entire space comprised within these limits is free from the intervention of any building whatever. The butts are really cut into a large hill which gradually rises for some distance in the rear of the targets."

The new range was formally opened in April 1890 when the veteran volunteer sergeant, William Hall, who had supervised the construction of the targets, had the honour of scoring the first bulls eye, despite a very high wind blowing from the left and heavy rain falling.

A decade later, there was an added impetus to rifle training for young men. As a direct result of the Boer War of 1899-1902, in which many local lads went off to fight, the Countess of Ancaster suggested that more men in civilian life ought to be trained to handle a rifle in case they were needed for military service in the future and this lead directly to the formation of the Bourne Rifle Club.

The idea was first mooted early in 1902 when the troops were returning from South Africa. A meeting was called at the Drill Hall in North Street [now the Vestry Hall] on Thursday 20th March to consider the formation of a club to be affiliated to the National Rifle Association when the vicar, the Rev Hugh Mansfield, took the chair. He said that the objective was to provide instruction and practice in the use of the service rifle, to encourage recruiting for the army and auxiliary forces and to be a reserve for home defence.

The committee was delegated to draw up suitable rules and make arrangements for the running of a miniature indoor range for target practice. Forty members were enrolled during the evening and as the annual subscription was only one shilling and ammunition was to be provided free, it was expected that the membership would be large.

The site chosen for the range was in the old maltings buildings behind the Bourne Institute in West Street, now the Pyramid Club. Conversion work got underway immediately and within two months the range was ready for an official opening by the Earl of Ancaster, accompanied by Lady Ancaster, on Wednesday 28th May 1902. A large number of members and friends attended and Captain Cecil Bell, a local solicitor and commander of H Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, told them: "It is mainly through a suggestion by Lady Ancaster that this club has been started and it is chiefly due to their generosity that we now possess such an excellent indoor range."

He then declared the range officially open and fired the first shot, followed by Lady Ancaster who scored a bull's eye. Several other ladies and gentlemen among the guests afterwards tried their hand at firing on the range and during the proceedings, the band of H Company played musical selections in the grounds of the institute.

William Hall, whose encouragement and advice had been so important for the success of the project, was a cabinet maker with premises in South Street, Bourne. He was also a prominent member of the volunteers, holding the rank of sergeant, and had won a reputation as a crack shot, representing the company several times at Wimbledon, the venue for the annual competition of the National Rifle Association since 1860, later transferred to the present venue at Bisley in 1890. He was undoubtedly the longest serving soldier in the Volunteers and when he eventually resigned in May 1890, his impressive record was detailed by a local newspaper:

“His length of service, his conspicuous ability as a non-commissioned officer, his almost unique success as a marksman, combined with his geniality, have rendered his name familiar among the rank and file of British volunteers. He has been practically identified with the Volunteer movement since its inauguration in this locality, having joined the 15th Company, 2nd Administrative Battalion, the Lincolnshire Rifle Volunteers, upon its formation in January 1860.

“He was made a corporal in 1864 and sergeant in 1871. When, in 1872, the 15th was disbanded, he joined the 18th Company, now the H Company, the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment. He has been an efficient marksman every year and upon three occasions he proved himself the best shot in the regiment. He has attended the National Rifle Association prize meetings every year since 1863 with one exception. He has been a winner at Wimbledon every year since 1872 and upon several occasions, a winner in the Queen's prize series, his successes in this competition being without a break from 1873 to 1879. He secured the Prince of Wales' prize in 1873 and was the only volunteer in the county who won the three great Wimbledon badges, the Queen's, Prince of Wales and St George's. He also had the distinguished honour of dining with the Prince of Wales at Wimbledon in 1887 at the invitation of Lord Wantage.”

In January 1891, the contribution he had made to the unit was acknowledged when he was presented with a purse of money and a handsome testimonial as a token of the high esteem in which his services to the volunteer movement were held.

Hall's politics were right wing and he was an ardent supporter of the cause, being secretary to the Conservative Club in Bourne whose members presented him with a gold watch for his services three years before his death and handed over by Mr William Younger, MP for the Stamford division which included Bourne. He retired from business in 1904 and contracted cancer soon afterwards, resulting in a long and painful illness and after a spell as a patient in Peterborough Infirmary, he spent the final five months of his life in a Bath chair that became a familiar sight in the streets of the town where he was still fondly known as Sergeant Hall. He died on Friday 7th July 1905, aged 68, leaving a widow, three sons and three daughters. Two members of the volunteers represented his old company at the funeral.

NOTE: This article appeared in The Local newspaper on Friday 31st March 2006.