The Town Hall has dominated the main street in Bourne ever since it was erected in 1821 but few people today realise that it once had a distinctive clock tower which gave the time for generations of townspeople until it was destroyed during a disastrous fire over eighty years ago.

Now the restoration of this once familiar feature is to become part of the latest plans to return the Grade II listed building to the people which was launched by the trustees, Lincolnshire County Council, last month with a series of successful public consultations.

Building the Town Hall cost £2,450 [£243,000 at today’s values] which was raised mainly by public subscription but the clock and tower were financed separately by Mrs Eleanor Frances Pochin who lived at the Abbey House, a grand mansion standing next to the church where she died on 16th July 1823 at the age of 76. She was the widow of George Pochin, who was Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots for 37 years from 1761-98, and both were major benefactors to various causes in the town during their lifetime.

The clock continued in use until 1882 when a new one was installed at a cost of £85 [£9,200 at today's values]. The contract was awarded jointly to two local clock and watch makers, Thomas Pearce of North Street, and Joseph Ellicock of West Street, after they had submitted an acceptable estimate for a new two-dial eight-day pendulum turret clock striking the hours and quarters and made by Thwaite's & Reed, a distinguished firm of clockmakers established at Clerkenwell, London, during the 18th century who had supplied the first timepiece. Work began in October and was completed by Christmas, the cost being met by donations and public subscriptions.

This clock remained in use until the end of the century when the parish council which was then responsible for administering local affairs in Bourne, decided that the tower needed strengthening and that the clock dial should be illuminated at night. The project was the brainchild of Councillor Alfred Stubley, a local decorator and scenic artist, and it was mainly due to his practical knowledge and capability that it came to fruition.

The work was carried out in 1899 by Edward Pearce, a clock and watch maker with premises in North Street, and the son of Thomas Pearce who had helped supply the previous clock.

The timepiece had been in need of restoration for some time and he fitted a new dial with gilded hands and black figures in an opal glass, allowing the clock face to be lit up after dark, a modern innovation at that time. The illumination was provided by gas light regulated by automatic machinery and the old wooden turret or cupola was lined with asbestos to render it fireproof. The clock mechanism and pendulum were situated in the constable's room in the Town Hall below and connected to the dial by wires.

Total cost of the work was £47 14s. 1d. [£5,450 at today's values] and was a complete success. "The illuminated dial gives universal satisfaction", reported a local newspaper. "The new clock is a decided improvement for which the parish councillors may justly claim credit."

During the Great War of 1914-18, the striking mechanism was silenced along with that of other public clocks throughout the country because the chimes might be confused with an air raid or an invasion alert. Bourne Urban District Council, which was then administering our affairs, did not give the reason why but merely recorded in their minutes of April 1916: "In compliance with an order from the Home Office, it was decided that the striker of the Town Hall clock be tied up for the duration."

The chimes were restored after the Armistice and the clock continued in use until 1933 when it was badly damaged during a fire which caused considerable consternation throughout the town. At that time, the weekly market was held in what is now the town centre and on Saturday 31st October, as shoppers were dispersing and traders packing up their stalls to go home, thick black smoke suddenly started billowing from the top of the building. There were cries of alarm and someone shouted: “Call the fire brigade”.

The fire engine was then housed inside the left hand alcove of the Town Hall and the alarm bell hung outside with a rope attached which was soon being pulled vigorously. Firemen were in action within minutes and crowds gathered to watch but by this time the wooden clock tower was well alight.

While trying to extinguish the blaze, one of the firemen, Charles Moisey, climbed on to the roof and into the tower with a branch hose to tackle the flames but was overcome by thick smoke and would have been suffocated had not colleagues pulled him out by his feet, the only method they could employ to rescue him.

The fire was eventually extinguished although the clock tower was destroyed and an investigation later revealed that a gas lamp inside the cupola had overheated and caused the outbreak. The tower was never replaced and the clock was later refurbished and reinstalled on the pediment below where it can be seen today.

But if all goes to plan, this will change and the clock tower of old will eventually be back on top of the Town Hall as part of a scheme to turn the building into a theatre, cinema, bar and market space, the aim being to restore it as a public amenity to be used as a focal point for the arts and events, run by a charitable trust operating for and by the people of Bourne which is expected to be formed next year.

Charles Houseago, who leads the seven-member informal steering group which is overseeing the initial plans for the restoration on behalf of Lincolnshire County Council, said: “We intend to rebuild the cupola and refurbish the turret and clock to be displayed working in the renovated building, complete with chimes, thus returning the building to its original 1821 appearance.”