Bourne Castle
- a
remarkable discovery on April 1st

Rare parchments
found among the ancient timbers of Baldock’s Mill in South Street have
finally established the existence of a castle in Bourne almost 1,000 years
ago. One of them contains an early drawing of the battlemented
fortification favoured during Norman times and is believed to be the work
of a monk who lived at the abbey between the time of Hereward the Wake
(1070) and Geoffrey of Bourne (1292), a noble knight and one of the first
lords of the manor.
The discovery is particularly important because it reveals for the first
time the design and layout of the castle, details that have eluded
antiquarians and archaeologists in recent centuries, with a moat, palisade
surrounds, a gateway and solid interior fortifications, much the same
design as that envisaged by the archaeological dig of 1861 and the
geo-physical survey carried out above ground at the Wellhead Gardens this
month by a specialist team using the latest electronic equipment to test
what actually lies below the surface.
The painting was among several documents found by Jim Jones, custodian of
the mill, while laying new electrical cables for the computers that have
been recently installed for the benefit of visitors. He climbed up into
the eves to complete the wiring and quite accidentally brushed against the
roof between the timbers and a large section fell away to reveal a dried
sheepskin pouch containing several documents bound together with horse
hair.
He took the pouch down into the office and was astounded at what he found
inside and, realising the importance of the discovery, the Civic Society,
which administers the Heritage Centre housed at the mill, immediately
contacted the British Museum. Experts from their mediaeval manuscripts
department have since visited Bourne and the documents have been taken
back to London for further investigation but Professor Johannes Unsinn, a
former lecturer in early European fortifications at the University of
Cologne, has already issued a report on their findings.
Preliminary examination reveals that the documents date back to the 12th
century to that period after the Norman invasion when the conquerors were
consolidating their victory with a busy period of building castles at
various vantage points throughout England and in view of the importance of
Bourne, the town was an obvious choice for a battlemented fortification to
help keep the population in order. It is also believed that the drawing of
the castle and surrounding settlement was the work of an Augustinian canon
who was resident at the abbey and who specialised in illuminated
parchments and that he took his panoramic view from the top of the church
tower which shows its position alongside the river, now known as the
Bourne Eau, and the related waterways encircling the site, thus proving
the theory of a motte and bailey much favoured by past investigations.
The painting reproduced above is thought to have been completed circa 1190
because the accompanying text is written in the same style as that
employed by Orm the Preacher, the scholar and writer of homilies who
flourished here circa 1175 and who may have been tutor to the artist. It
shows the layout as it was soon after construction with the castle
dominating the site and a large number of dwellings for serfs and servants
and those who provided for their needs, small merchants and suchlike, as
well as a long house for meetings, for it was this settlement that
provided the basis for the Bourne we know today.
Professor Unsinn is particularly surprised at the condition of the
painting because it has retained the vibrant colours in which it was
originally executed. “It has hardly seen the light of day since it was
completed and has not therefore deteriorated in any way”, he said.
“Although painted in the naïve style of the time it does give us a good
idea of how Bourne looked in the 12th century and should settle once and
for all the debate about whether a castle existed on this site during that
period.”
The painting is to hang in the mediaeval section at the British Museum but
a copy has already been made available to the Civic Society and is now on
display at the Heritage Centre.
NOTE: This article was published by the Bourne web site on Saturday
1st April 2006 and again on Facebook on 1st April 2016. The
illustration above is the work of the late Michael (Mick) Smith, a retired
policeman from Bourne, and is actually on display at the Heritage Centre. |
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