A
total of 2,295 people were reported to be living in Bourne in 1380. We are told this in an
inventory of the estate of Lady Blanche Wake that also listed 413 houses
and a military garrison of 200 strong. This population figure however,
appears to be quite high and is most likely to be incorrect because two
centuries later there were only 174 families living here and the
population never reached 2,295 again until 1820. This
was an agricultural community but not all of the mediaeval population
consisted entirely of farm workers. There were also a large number of
craftsmen and shopkeepers because Bourne was by then well established as a
market town. In Tudor and Stuart times, the town continued to flourish
without any dramatic increase in population and judging by a count of
families, compared favourably with nearby places such as Spalding and
Grantham. In
1606, there were 600 communicants recorded at the Abbey Church and this
would include almost all of the people in the parish as dissenters would
be few at this time and heavy penalties were imposed on those who absented
themselves from the established church. By 1665, it had been estimated
from the hearth tax returns that Bourne had about 535 inhabitants with a
further 120 at Cawthorpe and 125 at Dyke that lay within the parish, a
total of 780. Eleven years later, a further return showed that there were
807 people living here. These figures are the best evidence available as a
population guide in those days before the official census became
established in 1801. In
the 18th century, as in earlier periods, it is difficult to obtain precise
figures for the size of Bourne's population. A census made at three
different times during the years 1705 to 1723 shows that the town
contained 300 families, then 212, and then 217, but the precise dates for
these surveys are not known. However, these figures do show that there was
a marked decrease in the population of Bourne during the first quarter of
the century, a trend that reflects to an unusual degree the general
tendency for the county, whereas a slight decrease in the total number of
families occurred between 1706 and 1721. At this time, Bourne was still
large when compared to the size of other Lincolnshire towns. In 1721 for
instance, Stamford and Grantham had only 400-500 families each, Boston
from 600-700 and Lincoln fewer than 1,000. Towards the end of the century,
it is probable that the population of Bourne began to increase again. Some
statistics from the parish registers show that in the years 1735-54
inclusive there were 909 baptisms in the Abbey Church, but in the period
1775-94 there were 1,014 baptisms. On the other hand, the death rate was
probably falling because in the whole of the 17th century there were 4,873
burials in Bourne and in the next hundred years there were 4,951 which is
only a small increase when set against the rising figures for baptisms.
This all points to a general rise in the total population over the century
as a whole.
We
can see from this that Bourne experienced a population explosion in the
first half of the 19th century, growing at a rate unequalled until modern
times. In the forty years from 1811 to 1851, the population more than
doubled. Thereafter, it remained at almost the same level, until the last
two decades of the century brought a further, but more gradual, upward
trend. In that last 20 years, Bourne was faring better in this respect
than most of the neighbouring villages where the general rule was for a
decrease in population. This falling-off in numbers may well have been due
to the prolonged depression which affected British agriculture from the
late 1870s onwards, and which caused a general drift from the land. Bourne
does not seem to have been so entirely dependent on farming as to share
the same experience as many villages, and may indeed have been, to a
certain extent, a magnet which attracted those who could no longer find a
livelihood in neighbouring parishes. However, being only a small market
town, it did not offer to newcomers the same prospects as were found in
the still expanding cities of Britain, and its essential character
remained unchanged. During
the 20th century, the town continued to increase in size,
although its growth was steady rather
than spectacular. Population figures in those years when a census was
taken are as follows, 1941 being excluded because the Second World War was
in progress:
The
population then began to rise more rapidly. After a sample census in 1966,
it was calculated that the inhabitants of Bourne numbered 5,960, and plans
were drawn up for sufficient new building to bring the figure up to
somewhere near 7,000. At the census of 1971, the town had 6,461
inhabitants and by the beginning of 1974 this figure had reached 7,010,
according to the Registrar-General’s annual population estimate. One
of the main catalysts for this growth was the increased opportunities for
employment in neighbouring towns such as Stamford and Grantham and
particularly Peterborough which had been designated a government expansion
city destined to double its size within 10 years, rather than in any
sudden new development in Bourne itself although not all of the newcomers
were commuters because Bourne Urban District Council had striven hard, and
with some success, to attract light industry to Bourne and the
construction of new housing was soon underway to cope with the influx.
Lower house prices also made the town a popular place to set up home for
servicemen at the various Royal Air Force bases in the region including
Wittering, Cottesmore and North Luffenham, and most of those who moved
here had wives and young children and, since their retirement from the
service, some have settled here permanently. The 1961 population of 5,337 reflected future trends and there was a further increase by 1981 to 8,142. The mid-year estimate of the population for Bourne in 1996, issued by Lincolnshire County Council, was 10,767 but a later figure for the town is from mid-1998 when it was 11,620. No government actually publishes population statistics for parishes and towns in between a 10-year census but this estimate is an official one from South Kesteven District Council based on information about new house building and other factors. The total from the latest census taken in April 2001 was 11,933 but this figure is now likely to have increased dramatically as a result of a programme of intensive private house building in the town, notably 2,000 new homes currently under construction at Elsea Park, and a population of around 15,000 would appear to be a more realistic figure as Bourne expands at a far greater rate than at any time in its history.
See also The 2001 census results Countries of origin REVISED FEBRUARY 2013
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