The following are extracts from the list entry and the Adviser's Report:

CONTEXT
An application to spot-list this building was originally submitted in January 2005 but was lost during the transfer of responsibility from DCMS to EH. The application has now been resubmitted as a matter of urgency since Bourne Town Council, which owns the building, has voted to demolish it. The chapel was deconsecrated in December 2004 and is being used for storage.

HISTORY
The Burial Act of 1853 authorised the provision of publicly-funded cemeteries across the country. This ushered in a boom in the construction of public cemeteries by Burial Boards run by parish vestries. Lincolnshire was one of the first counties to join the race for cemetery provision following the Act. Competitions for chapel designs were held in Boston, Grimsby, Holbeach and Louth in 1854, Lincoln in 1855 and Grantham in 1856. At Bourne, the Burial Board decided to invite a select number of architects to submit plans for two chapels in a single building and a lodge. Nearly four acres of meadow land had already been purchased, two acres for Church of England use and the remainder unconsecrated. The budget for establishing the cemetery, including the land and buildings, was £1,600; the final bill came to £2,000. The design selected by the Burial Board on 15 February 1854 was by Edward Browning, who had recently drawn up plans for a similar cemetery chapel in Stamford.

Edward Browning (1816-1882) was the son of the Stamford architect Bryan Browning (1773-1856), who designed Bourne Town Hall. Edward became a successful architect in his own right and worked from offices at No. 16 Broad Street, Stamford. There are around 30 Listed buildings attributed to him or associated with him, including the stone bridge erected over the River Welland at Stamford in 1849 (Grade 11). He specialised in ecclesiastical commissions and undertook restoration, addition and rebuilding works to a number of medieval churches. He designed several rectories, including the Gothic rectory at Lowick, Northamptonshire (Grade 11, 1855/6) which famously inspired its literary guests. Edward and his father both worked on alterations to Apethorpe Hall, Northamptonshire in the 1850s. In 1860 Edward designed the Ostler memorial drinking fountain, which was moved to Bourne Cemetery from its original location in the market place in 1962. He became an Associate of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and Mayor of Stamford in 1862-63.

A drawing in Lincolnshire Archives indicates that Browning's original design for the cemetery chapel at Bourne included a bell tower with a spire, similar to the one in existence at Stamford. The tower was scrapped when the estimates for construction were received, as Bourne Burial Board wanted to avoid an undue burden being placed upon the ratepayers. Browning modified the design accordingly, and the chapel as it stands today gives no hint of the tower proposal. The drawing also shows a lodge for the cemetery keeper in a matching Gothic style, which was actually built but demolished in 1960 and replaced by a bungalow.

The successful tender for the building works was by Moses Peal of Stamford (£845) and construction began in July 1854. The consecration service for the Anglican chapel and ground was conducted by the Bishop of Lincoln on 26 May 1855, and the following week all other burial grounds in Bourne attached to churches were closed by Act of Parliament. By 1904 the cemetery had been extended and almost doubled in size. Ownership of the chapel transferred to Bourne Urban District Council in 1899 and Bourne Town Council in 1974. The chapel was deconsecrated in December 2004 and is currently used as a storage facility.

DESCRIPTION
The east front has a moulded entrance-arch to the Nonconformist chapel in the gable end, with a hood-mould with finely-carved head-stops. There is a rose window above the arch with Geometrical tracery, hood-mould and head-stops. The gable end has offset buttresses terminating in trefoiled triangular gablets. To the left the Anglican chapel has a two-light window and a lancet window with Decorated tracery, hood-moulds and head-stops, and an offset buttress in between. Its entrance porch has a moulded archway with hood-mould and more finely-carved head-stops. The porch is surmounted by a St James cross finial. The roof is of subtly-gradated Collyweston slate with trefoil ridge cresting, some of which is missing. Both entrances have original timber doors with decorative iron hinges and handles.

The gable end of the Anglican chapel on the south side has angled buttresses and a large three-light window with Geometrical tracery. The west side of the Anglican chapel and the north side of the Nonconformist chapel are identical, with three cusped lancet windows punctuated by two offset buttresses. The gable end of the Nonconformist chapel on the west side has offset buttresses with trefoiled gablets, and two cusped lancet windows with a trefoil window above. All the windows have clear glass in a leaded diamond lattice, some damaged.

INTERIOR: Both chapels have stained deal roofs with collar-beams, black and red Minton tile floors, and collegiate-style pews on platforms lining the two longer walls. The Anglican chapel has quotations from the King James Bible painted in Gothic script onto the wall-plate under the roof. These read from east to west: 'Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea saith the spirit that they may rest from their labours and their works do follow them' (Revelation 14:13); '0 death where is thy sting', '0 grave where is thy victory' (1 Corinthians 15:55); 'I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God' (Job 19:25-26).

ASSESSMENT
As outlined in the Principles of Selection for Listed Buildings (DCLG Circular 01/2007), a building must have special architectural or historic interest in order to be listed. Due to the greatly increased number of buildings erected after 1840 and the quantity that survive, progressively greater selection is necessary. However, the relevance of age and rarity will vary according to the particular type of building, as different dates may be of significance. In the case of cemetery chapels outside London, the date 1853 is most significant due to the Burial Act which enabled provision of publicly-funded cemeteries. The Chapel of Rest at Bourne Cemetery was designed in February 1854 and opened in May 1855. This is a very early date in relation to public cemetery chapels outside London. It predates the recently-listed cemetery chapel in Boston (Grade 11) which was designed in July 1854 and opened in October 1855.

In order to cater for both Anglicans and Nonconformists in an even-handed manner, early public cemeteries provided a pair of chapels, each standing separately in their own areas of the cemetery. Later the chapels were frequently arranged parallel to one another or end-to-end and linked by a porte-cochere, often surmounted by a tower or spire. Browning's design for Bourne is highly unusual in that it combines the Anglican and Nonconformist chapels 'in a single T-plan building', as Pevsner noted. There are 223 entries for cemetery chapels on the List of Buildings of Special Interest, but only two of these are for Anglican and Nonconformist chapels in a single building. The chapels in Upton-upon-Severn, Worcestershire (Grade 11, 1867) are in an 'unusual T plan', while the chapels in Dukinfield Cemetery, Greater Manchester (Grade 11, 1865) are in an L-plan complex. The chapel at Bourne predates these by at least a decade.

Browning's original design included a bell tower with spire, but this was never built, and there is no sense that the current composition lacks a tower in any way. The tower in the drawing is standalone and Browning may have intended it to be dispensable if there were budget constraints. In his chapel at Stamford (unlisted, 1855) there is a tower but on a different side of the T-plan and more elaborate, with an octagonal bell stage, as befitting a more prosperous town. The variation between the Bourne and Stamford compositions and the subtle redesign of Bourne following the omission of the tower demonstrate Browning's ability to be inventive, flexible and suit design to purpose.

The chapel at Bourne has been carefully designed as part of a small landscape, with finely-crafted finishes such as carved head-stops, trefoiled gablets and a gradated Collyweston slate roof. There are subtle differences in the design of the Anglican and Nonconformist chapels. The Anglican chapel has a porch with a cross finial, a three-light window on the gable end, and biblical inscriptions on the wall-plate inside. The Nonconformist chapel has a rose window over the entrance, lancet windows on the gable end, and no biblical inscriptions. The entire building is remarkably intact, with almost complete external survival and a high degree of internal survival including the rare collegiate-style pews. It does not appear to have been altered or extended in any way and survives in its original setting, within the 1850s cemetery layout and surrounded by 19th century gravestones and monuments.

CONCLUSION
The Chapel of Rest at Bourne merits listing at Grade 11 for its special architectural and historic interest as a very early example of public cemetery architecture following the Burial Act of 1853, with an unusual plan-form combining Anglican and Nonconformist chapels in a single T-plan building. The chapel is subtly designed and well-crafted, and survives remarkably intact in its original setting.

SOURCES
Nikolaus Pevsner and John Harris, Buildings of England: Lincolnshire, 2nd edn revised by Nicholas Antram (Penguin, 1989), 173.
Rex Needle, A Portrait of Bourne, unpublished research (2007) and the Bourne Internet web site [http://www.bourne-lincs.org.uk]
Stamford Mercury, 1 June 1855.
Roger H. Harper, Victorian Architectural Competitions (Mansell, 1983), 326.
Ordnance Survey Maps 1888, 1904.

Summary of Importance:
The Chapel of Rest at Bourne Cemetery was designed in February 1854 by Edward Browning and opened in May 1855. It has special architectural interest due to its unusual plan-form which combines Anglican and Nonconformist chapels in a single T-plan building. It also has special historic interest as a very early example of public cemetery architecture outside London following the Burial Act of 1853. The architectural interest manifests itself in the subtly different ways in which the Anglican and Nonconformist elements of the building have been treated. The chapel has finely crafted finishes such as carved head-stops, trefoiled gablets and a gradated Collyweston slate roof. It survives remarkably intact in its original setting, and retains rare collegiate-style pews. It meets the criteria for listing and is recommended for addition to the List at Grade 11.

VISITS

07 -MAR-2007 Full inspection

COUNTERSIGNING First Countersigning Adviser: Mr Calladine

Comments: Agreed, yes list.
This is an intact early example of a cemetery chapel, with an unusual plan form. It has good quality features such as head stops and collegiate-style pews. The applicant suggests that the building was not listed during a re-survey in 1977, but rightly notes that understanding develops over time and that this comes to be reflected in statutory designation. This chapel meets the criteria for listing and should be listed at Grade 11.

NOTE: The extracts quoted above are Crown Copyright material.