No trace remains of the church that probably existed here before the Norman Conquest. The building we see today is the parish church of St Peter and St Paul, better known locally as Bourne Abbey, and was founded by the Lord of the Manor, Baldwin Fitzgilbert (1095-1154), in the 12th century. It was neither large nor wealthy but it was Norman and impressive and dates from circa 1138. Baldwin's Abbey was one of the five English monastic houses attached to the Arrouaisian congregation that was a sub-division of the Augustinian order. They took their name from the French village of Arrouaise in Artois where in 1090, three hermits had combined to build a cell or oratory in honour of the Holy Trinity and St Nicholas and there were eventually 28 houses, mainly in France and Flanders. The Arrouaisian canons were not very different from other Augustinians and the distinction between them tended to fade out as time went on and soon after 1470, the order became extinct. However, the abbots of Bourne always retained some of their independence and kept up their connection with the abbey at Missenden in Buckinghamshire that had similar origins. The foundation charter of Bourne Abbey was granted to Gervase, Abbot of St Nicholas of Arrouaise, but the house at Bourne was not merely intended as a cell of that abbey. It was independent from the start with its own abbot and the first to hold that office of which we have any record was David about 1156. Baldwin also gave him several tracts of land in the vicinity, fisheries in Bourne marsh, the nearby fish pond, various rents from other properties and the tithes of mills and of deer hides killed in hunting and wool to make garments for the canons. When Baldwin's daughter married Hugh Wake, the patronage of the house passed into the hands of the Wake family and they retained it until the 14th century but twice, in 1311 and again in 1324, the king's escheastor tried to claim Bourne Abbey as a royal foundation but the Wakes managed to uphold their rights and when Edward III subsequently visited the town, these were confirmed. The origins of the Abbey church began during the
great revival in religious thought and action in England during the early part
of the 12th century as a result of the preaching by Bernhard of Clairvaux. The
revival took many forms, expressed by many in preaching and in prayer, or by
entering monasteries; others, in their enthusiasm and fervour, anxious to do
something to further their faith, built churches and Baldwin, wishing to
demonstrate his devotion, decided to erect a new church on the site of the old
Saxon building which was then showing signs of decay. He started the task in 1138
but owing to political troubles, he never completed the work as he intended. He
was also wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Lincoln on 2nd February
1141 and, according to the custom of the time, had to pay a large ransom for his
release and this seriously depleted his financial resources. The oldest features, and aisles and arcades, are portions of the original church, founded in 1138. There is an arch of the same period at the end of the north aisle. The early English work, at the west end of the nave, is very good of its kind: there was a chantry chaperon on the south side. The window of the transept is a link between early English and decorated, three lancets surrounded by three circles. The Clerestory is of the perpendicular period when the principal storey of the remainder was built, the lower stages being early English. The present edifice is the parochial nave of the church, which being the property of the parishioners, was preserved for their use, the choir and the transept forming the monastic being pulled down at the dissolution of the monasteries [ordered by Henry VIII between 1536 and 1540]. At the dissolution, the lead was usually taken
off the roofs and the walls left standing, and this was possibly done to the
church at Bourne although it was soon repaired because in 1602, both church and
chancel are reported to have been in good condition. At the time of the
Reformation, all images were removed from English churches and although no
records exist as to what happened at Bourne, there is little doubt that this
also occurred here and in the villages around. Hugh Latimer, the fearless bishop
with a social conscience and Protestant leanings, is reputed to have preached in
the church while on one of his visits to Grimsthorpe Castle where he was a
frequent guest of those devout supporters of the Reformation, Lady Catherine
Willoughby and Lord Bertie, and it has been suggested that it might have been
at Bourne that he preached his remarkable service on the marriage feast which is
known to have been delivered in Lincolnshire. It was more markedly cruciform in shape, the transepts having been removed at the dissolution. There would be a large crucifix affixed to the Rood Loft, supported on either side by the figure of a saint, probably the patron saints of the church, St Peter and St Paul. Near the altar, a large life-sized statue of the Madonna and the Infant Christ, on the walls of the Chancel, on pedestals or brackets, images of the Apostles. Round the church, various shrines or small railed-off chapels. At High Mass, the church full of people, all classes and conditions, ladies and gentlemen from the castle, peasants in their long slops, and their wives in plain homespun dresses. At the elevation of the Host, all, irrespective of class or rank, lowly bending or kneeling, for all are equal here. The solemn silence – the sweet smell of the incense – the sounding of the bell, must have been very impressive, but it is very doubtful if the ordinary people understood the meaning, the service and prayers being in what must have been to them, an unknown language. Think of the many generations of Bourne people who have walked up those aisles – Saxons, Normans, Tudors, Elizabethans, Puritans, Cavaliers, Stuarts, Georgians, Victorians and Edwardians - all in their different and distinct costume and dress. Yet we cannot fully realise the antiquity of our church until we place against it events which have taken place in the past, and which now seem so remote, as almost to belong to another world. The abbey never became rich or important and it is probable that there were twelve canons at the start but this number fell to seven after the Black Death. They worshipped in the church, a building largely rebuilt and restored, especially during the Middle Ages, although the 12th century plans of the building were much the same as today with a nave and narrow north and south aisles, a large chancel, a south transept and twin towers at the west end but only the south west tower was built and there is no evidence of a north transept. No traces remain of the other monastic buildings although it may be that the cloister lay to the north side and a stone stairway which was in the south east corner of the present organ chamber could once have been the night stairs from the dormitory into the church. The nave looks towards the high altar and behind that the east window. On the right stands a fine brass Victorian lectern in the form of an eagle supported on a pedestal. It was presented to the church by in 1902 by Mrs Margaret Dainty in memory of her husband, Albert, and the high altar was enlarged by a gift in memory of Charles Horne, a former vicar, who died shortly after his retirement in 1951.
During the 20th century, the bells were re-hung in 1927, two having been re-cast, and further work was undertaken to strengthen the south west tower. These repairs started in the autumn of 1934 after the tower had been found to be in serious danger of collapse but the following January, as work was progressing, the full extent of the deterioration became apparent. The architects, Traylen and Lenton of Stamford, said in their survey report: "The imminence of the danger of collapse was even worse than anticipated." They also discovered that in the west, south and east faces of the tower, were four very wide cracks extending from the base mouldings through all three stages of the tower. An appeal for £2,000 was launched to pay for the restoration work and the entire tower was encased in scaffolding and immense shores and timbers were built on concrete bases to counteract any possible movement while the repairs were carried out. They included washing out the disintegrated rubble core, inserting metal rods to bond the inner and outer walls, the injection of a water and cement mixture and the replacement of damaged stonework. The bill for this work was not finally settled until the autumn of 1935 when the remaining £400 which was still outstanding was paid off by the Pilgrim Trust Fund of Boston. The total cost of the work had been £1,835 of which £1,420 had been raised by subscriptions and local fund-raising events in the town but there were difficulties in reaching the final target and church officials approached the trust for help and a grant of £400 was agreed. "By this most generous gift, the whole of the outstanding balance has been cleared", reported the Nottingham Evening Post on Saturday 19th October. Further restoration work was required in 2006
costing an estimated £100,000 and an appeal was launched in December that year
to raise the necessary finance.
The office of vicar of Bourne was constituted in the early 13th century and the first to be appointed was Geoffrey de Brunne, some time between 1209 and 1228, with a stipend of £4 a year and several other considerations such as food for himself and his servant, fodder for his horse and twenty shillings a year towards his clothing. He was also to have a cottage or house within the abbey near the gate. There have been 49 other vicars since and the present incumbent,
the Rev Christopher Atkinson, was appointed in 2003. It was replaced by a new vicarage in 1879 and materials salvaged from the former Abbey House that had been built a century earlier were used in its construction but it was a large and rambling building and by the late 20th century was no longer an acceptable home for today's incumbent, being costly to run and maintain on a modest stipend. Similar parsonages around the country were sold by the Church of England and replaced by modern properties and so it was at Bourne where the new vicarage built in 1986 now occupies a site close to the Abbey Church while the old building, which survives nearby, is still in useful service as The Cedars, a residential care home for the elderly.
The church hall is also a modern building, erected within the abbey precincts in 1963, and providing a useful place for community events. The site was purchased by the parochial church council from the Church Commissioners by a deed of conveyance dated 31st December 1957 and the hall was built with money raised from the sale of the Vestry Hall to Bourne United Charities in 1961. It was built in the modern village hall style in brick and tile and contains a large hall with a stage, lounge, two small meeting or changing rooms, kitchen, toilet facilities and foyer. The rooms are used for various events, specifically by the church youth organisations and church members, but are also extensively hired out for other functions.
REVISED DECEMBER 2013
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