How the outdoor pool came to be built

IT COULD HAVE BEEN ON A DIFFERENT SITE

The outdoor pool is so well established that it is difficult to imagine it being sited anywhere else other than the Abbey Lawn yet this could have happened had plans that were drawn up during the late 19th century come to fruition.

Public bathing was becoming popular in Britain at this time and the idea of an outdoor pool for the town was originally mooted at a public meeting held at the Angel Hotel on Thursday 18th June 1891 when the vicar, the Rev Hugh Mansfield, took the chair. Various sites were put forward and one of the most surprising ideas came from Mr John Gibson, a corn merchant and maltster, of West Street, who suggested using St Peter's Pool but the idea was rejected because it would involve too much boarding up that would deface this picturesque spot which, it was pointed out, was home to kingfishers and other rare birds and would therefore be regarded with considerable disfavour.

An expanse of water 200 yards west of Shilcock's Mill, now Baldock's Mill, was suggested next because this had been a favourite haunt for generations of Bourne boys but there were objections to this too because it might interfere with the rights of mill owners, Bourne having three working watermills dependent on the Bourne Eau in those days, the others being Cliffe's Mill and Notley's Mill. Mr Arthur Saul, a local auctioneer, told the meeting: "Whatever is taken up in Bourne will be taken up well, carried through with energy and completed thoroughly. I am in favour of the idea but whichever site is selected, the question of the right of way must be considered." He therefore suggested that a deputation be appointed to meet with the Marquess of Exeter, then Lord of the Manor of Bourne and a principal landowner.

Mr Edward Hill, manager of Cliffe's Mill in West Street, was strongly in favour of securing an independent water supply for the swimming pool. "There are abundant springs in the vicinity, any of which would furnish a splendid and unfailing stream", he said.

After a lively discussion, a committee was appointed with the vicar as chairman and Messrs Robert Shilcock, Robert Mason Mills, Arthur Saul, Cecil Bell, John Gibson and A MacDonald, as members. Their first task was to draw up a report for consideration at a future meeting which they did the following Tuesday when their assessment of the situation was not good. The report rejected the proposed sites as impracticable and suggested another location, a pond known as Burdwood's Pit, a stretch of water owned by Dr James Watson Burdwood, the Medical Officer of Health, but was in reality little more than an extension of the Car Dyke and located at the base of the embankment of the Bourne to Sleaford railway line. At the south end, it had a depth of 16 feet and the north end was shallower. "We are of the opinion that it could easily be made suitable", concluded the report.

This adverse report effectively ended the swimming pool project for the time being. On Friday 18th September 1891, the Stamford Mercury reported: "We believe that though the committee entrusted with the formation of the Bourne baths have encountered unexpected difficulties in carrying out their plans, they have by no means relinquished the idea of securing a suitable site for public swimming baths."

But this optimism was unfounded and the idea was shelved for almost three years until it was revived by a member of the original committee, Cecil Bell, a local solicitor, who chose a piece of land to the south of St Peter's Pool as the site, then known as Mr Gibson's Home Paddock but today it is part of the Wellhead Gardens. He engaged an architect who specialised in the design of swimming baths and plans were drawn up and estimates for the work obtained from contractors. 

They provided for a pool that would be fed direct from the stream leading to the Wellhead because the water here was warmer than that direct from the springs, a very important consideration for bathers. The outlet would be into the backwater stream, thus interfering only with one mill, which was most likely Cliffe's Mill. The bath would be 90ft. by 40ft., the depth varying from 3ft. 6in. to 6ft. and the floor laid from 400 cubic yards of super cement. Provision would also be made for eight dressing boxes or changing rooms and an open central shed, all covered in, and the complex surrounded by durable fencing 7ft. 6in. in height to ensure the strictest privacy.

Once the plans were completed, Mr Bell called a public meeting to find out if there was sufficient support in the town for the project and it was arranged to be held at the Angel Hotel on Wednesday 11th April 1894. On the Friday before the meeting, the Stamford Mercury reported: "Bourne will soon possess a capital swimming bath if Mr Bell's scheme is taken up with the generous and enthusiastic spirit it deserves. The plans, which have been excellently prepared by a gentleman who thoroughly understands the work, show a diving board and steps. The entire scheme is in business-like order and will doubtless meet with unanimous approval." 

Mr Bell told the meeting that the project had been costed at £300 [almost £20,000 in today's money] and added: "I believe that the work will prove both enduring and profitable. So far as raising the money is concerned, I think we might be able to raise £200 in voluntary subscriptions."

Mr John Shilcock, landlord of the Nag's Head Hotel, suggested the formation of a limited liability company and this was agreed. The chairman of the meeting, Mr Alexander Farr, also a solicitor, said that Kesteven County Council had the power to establish bath and wash houses but in this matter they deemed a voluntary effort preferable to official intervention. The meeting concluded with unanimous support for the project and it was resolved to appoint a committee and delegate the arrangements to them and a report on their progress would be presented to a future town meeting.

The elected committee met at the Corn Exchange on Saturday 14th April and enthusiasm for the scheme was still running high. The members reported on two courses of action, firstly that Mr Bell would attempt to raise the required £300 voluntarily and secondly that the work should be left to the parish council which was due to be elected in November, the town's first such body formed as a result of the Local Government Act of 1894. The committee also decided to canvas opinion in the town as to whether the required capital could be subscribed in the form of ten-shilling shares in a limited liability company.

In the event, there was insufficient financial support forthcoming from the public and by the time the new parish council was elected, there was so much business to be dealt with that the swimming baths never reached the agenda and by the end of the year, the idea had fizzled out.

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