The Tudor exhibition of 1976

The long gallery at the Red Hall

One of the great cultural occasions for Bourne in recent times was an exhibition of Tudor furniture which was held at the Red Hall over thirty years ago and attracted immense interest throughout the town and county. It was staged mainly in the long gallery and brought together a large collection of interesting and valuable items from private owners and museums together with 20th century hand-woven silk damasks and brocades.

The subject of the exhibition was chosen because the Red Hall dates from circa 1605 and is typical of those built for prosperous gentlemen of the early Stuart period and most probably designed by John Thorpe (1565-1655), one of the foremost architects in Britain during the time of Elizabeth I. It is one of the town’s oldest surviving secular properties, being Grade II listed in July 1977, and is now used almost solely as offices for Bourne United Charities which administers money left by various people in past times for the benefit of the town.

The display included an Elizabethan court cupboard, a cabinet and two hall chairs, a linen fold and screen, and a Jacobean press. Also gracing the gallery was an Elizabethan tapestry loaned by the Earl of Ancaster while other items came from St James’ Palace, Hampton Court and the Towneley Hall art gallery and museum at Burnley, Lancashire. Other articles were brought in by local people including the copy of a chair now in the Victoria and Albert Museum made by Jack Rayner, woodwork master at Bourne Grammar School, and a collection of Coalport, Derby, Staffordshire and Sunderland pottery and porcelain from Tom Jones, the local antiques dealer.

There was also an art exhibition staged by pupils from Bourne Grammar and the Abbey Primary Schools under the direction of art master Rod Hoyle and recent finds from local excavations were brought in by the South Lincolnshire Archaeological unit, pottery made in Bourne during the Middle Ages and old maps of the town and Eastgate areas together with photographs and artefacts of the steam railway age and other miscellaneous displays by the Women’s Institutes from Bourne and Dyke and the Bourne and District branch of the Workers Education Association.

The exhibition ran for the last two weeks during July 1976 and there was an official catalogue for visitors, price 5p including refreshments, and experts were on hand throughout to answer questions, particularly from schoolchildren who arrived in parties for the daily and weekend sessions. In other words, the exhibition was a tremendous success and did a great deal to stimulate interest not only in the Elizabethan age but also in the Red Hall and Bourne itself.

It was organised by the trustees of Bourne United Charities and was one of a series of events held at the Red Hall which had been saved from demolition after being vacated by the railway company who had used it as a booking office since 1860. When the railway line closed in 1962, there were moves by the local authorities to pull it down but the hall was eventually acquired by Bourne United Charities through the enthusiastic inspiration of Councillor Jack Burchnell (1909-73) who was mainly responsible for saving and restoring it for community use. It was his foremost ambition to see the ancient building returned to a good state of repair, a task that took ten years and was completed in the December before he died when the refurbished property was officially opened in its new role.

He supervised extensive renovation work to the old Tudor building whereby the whole structure was made safe, the roof re-tiled, the chimneys rebuilt and the original mullioned windows renewed and repaired. Internally, the fine staircase was restored, as were other rooms in the long gallery at the top of the house. The two front rooms on the first floor were combined into one, thus affording accommodation for social functions and public gatherings. Other rooms were equipped for various purposes, including a local museum. Thus, on 2nd December 1972, the Red Hall was officially opened as a community centre and in the following years was in constant demand for both public and private functions and many of the town's organisations were able to benefit from the use of its premises.

On the day the exhibition closed, there was another momentous event when Sir Hereward Wake, the 14th baronet, attended a civic ceremony with the Mayor of Bourne, the late Councillor Ray Cliffe, to present an album to Bourne containing a tribute in photographs and documents to his ancestor, Blanche, Lady Wake, for retention in the new museum which was then being organised at the Red Hall. The gift was to acknowledge the splendid work of the trustees in reclaiming the building and putting it to such good purpose and the Stamford Mercury reported the following Friday 6th August: “In the three years since its renovation, the hall has been used for concerts, dances, lectures, a meeting place for local organisations and for general assemblies.”

There have been other successful events in past times, notably an exhibition in 1984 to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Arnhem and the part played by Bourne in accommodating soldiers from the Parachute Regiment prior to the conflict and a one-day exhibition in 1996 to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the death of Robert Gardner (1850-1926), the Bourne bank manager and talented artist, when 40 of his paintings, including some that had been exhibited at the Royal Academy, were brought together for public view.

But such occasions are now rare. The Red Hall is virtually closed to the public and few people from Bourne have even been inside or seen the museum although a few organisations do hold periodic meetings in one of the rented rooms downstairs although the rest of the building is sealed off while the community events envisaged when the building opened and which were originally held there no longer take place. In short, its intended role as a community centre open to all has not now been fulfilled as was originally envisaged by Councillor Burchnell and his fellow trustees who did so much work to save it from being pulled down.

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