Bryan Browning 

1773-1856

The architect Bryan Browning is best known as the man who designed Bourne Town Hall that was built in 1821 but he was also a dedicated villager whose family made their mark on Thurlby over a period of at least two centuries.

His father, also Bryan Browning, died in 1803 and is buried in the churchyard at St Firmin's Church. He was a churchwarden and is remembered by an inscription on one of the five bells in the tower, the treble bell 3 that was installed during the late 18th century. This bell has a diameter of 36¾ inches, weighs 8 cwt 91 lbs and the engraving reads: "Bryan Browning, Churchwarden, Edwd. Arnold, Leicester fecit 1790." The inscription on his tombstone reads: "In memory of Bryan Browning who died April 2nd 1803 aged 74 years. Also of Mary his wife who died January 11th 1806 aged 66 years." There are several other members of the Browning family buried in the churchyard but neither his son nor grandson are there.

His son Bryan became an architect of some repute. He worked originally in London from 1819 to 1822 but returned to Lincolnshire and married a local girl, Miss Ruth Snart, in 1826 and practised at Number 16 Broad Street, Stamford, in the early part of the 19th century. But his reputation was such that he won several prestige commissions, including the design of Bourne Town Hall in 1821, the House of Correction at Folkingham in 1825, the Baptist Chapel in West Street (1835) and the workhouses at Bourne, Spalding and Stamford. He was also responsible for considerable architectural work in Stamford including the layout of the Blackfriars Estate in 1840, the Y M C A buildings, the re-modelling of Barn Hill House in 1843 and work on St Mary's Church, Grant's iron foundry and Byard House in St Paul's Street.

In 1840, he was retained by the Marquess of Exeter as architect for the Burghley Estate at a salary of £140 per annum. His son Edward (1816-1882) also trained as an architect and became equally successful, designing the stone bridge erected over the River Welland on the main road into Stamford in 1849, much renovation work on local churches, including Bourne Abbey, the chapels of rest and lodge house in Bourne town cemetery (1854), extensive alterations to the parish church at Uffington in 1866 and the small Victorian apsidal chapel at St Andrew's Church, Sempringham, in 1869. He was also chosen to design the Ostler memorial fountain in 1860 dedicated to a local worthy that once stood in Bourne market place but because of traffic problems was moved in 1962 to the town cemetery where it can still be seen. 

But Bourne Town Hall remains Bryan Browning's most important legacy and has been the focus of civic activity in the town for almost two centuries. It replaced a small building in the market place that had been in use for many years, for both the petty and quarter sessions, the periodic courts for the dispensation of justice. But by the early 19th century, it had become dilapidated and a site occupied by a house adjoining the Bull Inn, now the Burghley Arms, was chosen for a new town hall. It was built in 1821 to designs drawn up by Bryan Browning and has been little altered since. He chose an exterior staircase and recessed twin flights of steps within the front of the building that was constructed with Doric columns after the fashion of the Roman baths. The project was financed with money raised through the county rate, from the sale of scrap materials from the previous building on the site and from public subscription, which raised just under £1,400.

For two centuries it served as a magistrates' court until phased out in 2008 but the building remains the centre of civic administration for the town, as the offices of Bourne Town Council and South Kesteven District Council although its future use is currently under review.

REVISED JANUARY 2009

See also     Edward Browning      John Ostler     Folkingham

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