Bourne in 1977

by J D Birkbeck MA

BOURNE, a pleasant market town of some 7,000 inhabitants, has a long and varied history. It originated as a settlement around the spring of fresh water known today as the Wellhead or St Peter's Pool. In Roman times Bourne was a posting station on King Street, a road running from north to south along the fen edge. Just to the east of the road was the Car Dyke, an important Roman waterway, remains of which can still be seen in the vicinity of Bourne.

By tradition, Bourne has been closely associated with Hereward, the hero of the English in their resistance to the Norman Conquest and though there is no direct evidence that Hereward was a native of the town, it is certain that he owned land in several neighbouring parishes.

For many generations, up to about 1400, the Wake family were lords of the manor of Bourne and the Wake coat of arms is incorporated in the town's insignia. It is probable that the Wakes erected the castle which once stood on the Wellhead field and of which various earthworks are now the only remains.

In 1138, Bourne Abbey was founded by Baldwin Fitzgilbert, lord of the manor. It was a small monastic house and after its dissolution in 1536, the Abbey Church remained as the parish church but the other buildings gradually disappeared. A native of Bourne who was probably connected with the Abbey was Robert Manning, a 14th century author who was one of the earliest to write in a standard form of English.

By the early sixteenth century, the manor of Bourne was in the hands of the Cecil family and it was in 1520 that William Cecil, later Lord Burghley, the illustrious Elizabethan statesman, was born in a house in Bourne market place.

At the end of that century, one of Bourne's notable buildings was erected. This was the Red Hall, the home of a local gentleman, Gilbert Fisher. After a chequered history, during which it was for many years in the hands of the Digby family and then of the railway company, the Red Hall passed to the Bourne United Charities. After extensive repairs and renovation, the building was re-opened in 1972 as a community centre which now plays a significant role in the life of the town.

Bourne is fortunate in possessing various charities dating from the seventeenth century onwards. With the funds available from these, the charity trustees have not only been able to offer financial help to local citizens and to assist education, but have laid out and maintained the Wellhead area, the Memorial Gardens, and the excellent facilities for games and recreation on the Abbey Lawn. The Whitebread Meadow charity, designed to benefit the residents of Eastgate, is linked with the quaint custom of letting a piece of land by annual auction, the bidding being restricted to the time it takes a child to run a certain distance.

The 19th century, which saw a considerable increase in the town's population, the establishment of business firms which still flourish today, and the development of Bourne as a railway centre of some importance, also brought much new building. Public buildings erected during this period include the Town Hall (1821), the Corn Exchange (1870), and the Baptist, Methodist, and Congregational (now United Reformed) churches. Among private residences of that time, the building in North Street now known as Wake House is of some interest. It was the boyhood home of Charles Frederick Worth who later became famous as the founder of the Paris fashion house which still bears his name.

During the present century, and especially since the second World War, Bourne has expanded considerably, both as a residential town and as a centre of trade. Its older industries are still linked with agriculture, while more recent ones include light engineering, printing, vegetable packing, clothing manufacture and a factory that produces the renowned BRM racing cars. The centuries old street market is still held every Thursday and Saturday and the town continues to be a busy shopping centre for the surrounding district. There are two primary schools, a county secondary school and a grammar school which has developed from a foundation of 1636. Among recent public buildings in Bourne there are the Darby and Joan hall, the health centre and the Roman Catholic church.

Within the parish boundaries lie several smaller areas of settlement. Cawthorpe is a pleasant hamlet near to Bourne Wood. Dyke, which takes its name from the ancient Car Dyke, is a village with a very active community spirit, as is Twenty, where this Jubilee Year also marks the jubilee of its well equipped village hall, opened in 1952.

NOTE: Reproduced from A Brief History of Bourne which was published
in the souvenir programme for the Bourne Silver Jubilee celebrations of 1977.

See also J D Birkbeck