A summary of events

ATTEMPTS are now being made to save the Victorian chapel in the South Road cemetery after the town council decided that it should be demolished. Conservationists have demonstrated that there is sufficient support for its restoration and future use and the following précis has been compiled from available sources of information in the public domain as a chronicle of past events and a summary of the current situation.

1855: The chapel was built by Bourne Burial Board for pre-burial services together with a gate lodge of similar design and occupied by the cemetery supervisor.

1899: Ownership passed to the newly formed Bourne Urban District Council.

1960: The gate lodge was demolished by Bourne Urban District Council and a modern bungalow for the cemetery supervisor built on the site.

1964: A local agreement was signed between BUDC and local funeral directors to enable pre-burial services continue on a more regularised basis.

1974: The Bourne chapel continued in regular use and administration passed to the newly formed Bourne Town Council, established under the local government re-organisation.

1977: Survey reveals problems with the roof but an offer to the town council to replace the Collyweston roof tiles with lighter, imitation tiles free of any cost, was not taken up. (Source: Bourne Civic Society).

1978: The arrangement established with funeral directors in 1964 was continued as a Bourne Cemetery Agency Agreement, approved by South Kesteven District Council.

1979-1987: No decisions taken on major maintenance or repair work for the building.

1988: Funeral directors stopped using the chapel on a regular basis, many having established more convenient facilities on their own premises, although pre-burial services were still allowed and some were held.

1989-2001: No decisions taken on major maintenance or repair work for the building.

2001: The last funeral service was held in the chapel in December and the building was subsequently utilised for use by cemetery staff as an office and workshop for equipment and storage of the town's Christmas illuminations, bought that year for £40,000, a sum raised through a loan over five years at an interest rate of 5.5%.

2002: The cemetery won a Cemetery of the Year award organised by the Cemetery and Crematorium Management Institute, being awarded first place in the category for 12 acres and under, the chapel being singled out for special mention. Engraved and gilt-lettered plaques take pride of place at the main entrance to the grounds in South Street.

Winning plaque for 2002

2004: The chapel was closed to the public as being structurally unsafe although cemetery staff continued to use it.

2004: Although the subject was often discussed in committee, the first information to be published by the town council about the chapel's major structural problems came in the March issue of the parish newsletter which suggested a repair bill of £80,000 and although its future use was debated, nothing was decided. The chapel was deconsecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln on December 1st at the request of the town council. No press or public announcement was made.

Chapel warning sign

2005: The town council indicated early in January that demolition of the chapel was now firmly on the agenda.

2005: A private application was sent to English Heritage on January 30th under existing spot listing procedures available to the public to give the chapel listed status and so protect it from demolition by the town council in the future. The repair bill at this time was still estimated at £80,000.

2005: Cemetery chapel at Stamford built at the same time and by the same architect now fully restored and used daily as offices, together with the lodge.

Stamford cemetery chapel

2006: Conservationists at Boston successfully obtained a Grade II listing for their cemetery chapel in September to prevent it from being demolished by the borough council.

2006: A second success in the Cemetery of the Year award, the chapel playing an integral part in the judging, and the award of yet another gilt-lettered plaque for display at the cemetery entrance.

2006: In November, the town council received permission for a change of use for the bungalow to office and staff facilities although the workshop and equipment store remained in the chapel.

Winning plaque for 2006

2006: The town council revealed in November that negotiations with a company to purchase the chapel and the bungalow, together with some surrounding land, with plans to restore the chapel, had broken down "due to circumstances beyond the control of the council".

2006: Bourne Town Council made it quite clear in December that it was considering pulling down the cemetery chapel rather than pay for repairs.

2007: The Victorian Society, a distinguished national organisation responsible for the study and protection of Victorian architecture, urged the town council in January not to demolish the chapel but to take steps to preserve it and offered advice and help. At the same time, children from the Abbey Primary School sent a poster to the council inscribed “Save our chapel”. Messages of support for the chapel arrived from all over the world and similar pleas came from the Ancient Monuments Society, SAVE Britain's Heritage and the Chapels Society.

2007: The town council's finance and general purposes committee met on January 9th to consider four options for the cemetery chapel (1) to convert it for use as workshop and storage (2) to renovate it fully (3) to remove it or (4) to do nothing and allow it to decline naturally. They subsequently voted by nine votes to two to pull it down and this was ratified by the full council (on January 23rd). Those who voted in favour of demolition were Councillors Shirley Cliffe, Derek Crump, Guy Cudmore, Brian Fines, Trevor Holmes, Pet Moisey, Alistair Prentice, John Smith and Judy Smith. Two councillors voted against, Don Fisher and Linda Neal.

David Garrard, Historic Buildings Adviser to the Victorian Society, urged councillors not to demolish the chapel but to seek ways of funding restoration in order that it could be restored for future generations. “I implore you not to condemn this important and attractive building to demolition before all avenues have been explored", he wrote. "It would be well suited to adaptive re-use and should not be thrown away lightly.”

Fifteen copies of an illustrated leaflet outlining the history of the chapel and its architectural and social importance written and compiled by local historian Rex Needle were sent prior to the meeting with the suggestion that they would help councillors in their deliberations by placing the chapel in its true historical context, as the cornerstone of our town’s recent history and a marker to the graves of the 10,000 local people who are buried there, but the chairman ruled that councillors were not allowed to read them until after the meeting.

2007: On February 6th, the amenities committee considered the possibility of replacing the chapel with
two 20 foot steel sea containers, or even a Portakabin, for storage purposes, but the idea was quietly dropped. Two demolition tenders received in the sums of £10,750 and £8,650. It was also revealed that the council's contingency funds amounted to £80,000, including £40,000 earmarked for cemetery works.

Sea container

2007: A tarpaulin was laid across the roof in March to stop the rain seeping in, a known cause of the increasing structural problems for the past two decades. It has since been removed.

2007: Following an Open Forum meeting on Tuesday 6th March, attended by more than 70 members of the public, the town council agreed to defer the demolition decision after hearing of the overwhelming public support to preserve the building for future use coupled with a wave of emails and letters from at home and overseas.

2007: After a detailed inspection of the chapel by one of its conservation experts, English Heritage recommended fast tracking the listing application to save the building from being pulled down by the town council following the intervention of the Civic Society and a newly formed Action Group and this was granted on April 4th by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport.

Events during 2008

A detailed structural survey ordered by the town council produced an estimated cost of £396,000 for remedial repairs over the next six years. No maintenance work has yet been carried out.

January: On January 22nd, the town council decided to send out a questionnaire to every household asking if residents are prepared to pay the £396,000 repair bill through their council tax, increases amounting to £14.35 a year over six years in band D or £10.87 a year over 11 years. No approaches have yet been made to any of the national conservation organisations that have offered to help.

February: A questionnaire was issued to householders in Bourne during the week beginning February 4th to test public reaction as to how the town council should proceed over the future of the chapel. The form contained several questions about possible procedures in the future and suggested that the repair bill would now be £553,086 which would have to be added to the council tax over a period of eleven years. A total of 7,000 questionnaire forms were ordered by the council to be circulated as an insert in a local trade magazine, circulation unknown, and the deadline for its return was given as Friday 29th February.

The town council was told at its meeting on Tuesday 19th February that many people, including several councillors and residents of Dyke, Twenty and Cawthorpe, had not received copies of the questionnaire.

Conservationists, including members of the Civic Society, known as the Save our Chapel group, met on Wednesday 20th February to discuss the possibility of forming a trust to take over and administer the chapel building.

On Friday 29th February, the group sent a message to Bourne Town Council saying that it was responsible for the state of disrepair and that the recent survey of residents would not give a true reflection of opinion since many of the survey leaflets were not distributed. The group also pointed out that quoting the cost of renovation based on one estimate was unacceptable and that further estimates should be obtained. Other points raised were (1) that the council had £40,000 in the contingency fund for the chapel that has not been used for essential maintenance (2) that the council had failed to approach the many charities that had offered specialist knowledge and possible funding for renovation and (3) that in view of the foregoing, they considered that the town council, as the legal owner of the chapel, should seek further estimates and liaise with the charities that have offered assistance in order to present a more accurate picture on which to base plans for the renovation.

March: The town council met on Tuesday 11th March to discuss a summary of the outcome of the public survey and to decide the format and date for a public meeting. Members of the public were allowed to attend but not to speak. Results of the survey revealed that only 443 of the 7,000 forms ordered were returned but the council has agreed to investigate complaints that not everyone in the parish received one. The voting figures for and against restoration financed through the council tax were:

TOTAL SUBMISSIONS	443	6.3% of the 7,000 ordered
YES with comments	79	18% of submissions
YES without comments	16	3.7% of submissions
NO with comments	197	44.5% of submissions
NO without comments	151	34% of submissions

The council decided that there was sufficient support for restoration and to encourage ways of achieving this. A public meeting was therefore fixed for Tuesday 29th April at the Corn Exchange when interested parties will be invited to submit their suggestions.

Supporters of the Save our Chapel group met at Smiths of Bourne on Wednesday 26th March 2008 and agreed to form the Bourne Preservation Society. A steering committee was appointed and the first major project identified, to save the Victorian cemetery chapel from demolition. It was also decided that the society would embrace the conservation of all historic buildings in Bourne and also undertake other projects relating to the preservation and conservation of the town. Members will meet twice a month and guest speakers invited to discuss various aspects of conservation. The aims were agreed as follows: (1) To fulfil a number of roles within the town and to conduct a survey of buildings in order to encourage the enlargement of the current conservation area; (2) To create a better understanding of planning procedures that would benefit the town’s people as well as planners themselves; (3) To address other concerns within the town that would come under the auspices of the society and foster co-operation with them.

April: Bourne Preservation Society met and elected a committee with four officers and eight members. It was also agreed to begin contacting people who wished to become trustees and as part of the campaign to spread awareness, the chapel was opened on two occasions (Thursday 17th April and Thursday 24th April) to give the public a chance to see it. Many took advantage of the opportunity.

The society handed over a dossier containing its proposals for restoration and future use to the clerk to the council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs, in advance of the town council meeting on Tuesday 29th April when the issue was discussed. Unfortunately, hopes of an immediate decision were dashed when the council decided to appoint a working party of councillors to consider the proposals and their report will not go before the full council until the monthly meeting on June 24th. The society's disappointment at the delay was summed by the secretary, Mrs Helene Currell. “How much longer is this going to take?”, she asked. “The chapel is not watertight and needs urgent attention with regard to this but winter will be here before we know it.”

Nevertheless, the society pressed ahead with its plans to take over and manage the chapel and donations were invited from those who wish to support the project.

June: The town council met on Tuesday 24th June and approved the handover of the building to the society. Councillor Mark Horn said that the decision would reflect the efforts made by the group and added: "This council resolves to request that the clerk to the council instructs legal advisers to negotiate and prepare a long lease in regard to the chapel on terms acceptable to this council." Jack Slater, the society's chairman, said that the decision demonstrated the council's confidence in their organisation and its aims. "We now look forward to working with the council to agree the terms and plan the way forward", he said. "This will be a very long project requiring the raising of large sums of money and many hours of voluntary work."

July: Bourne Preservation Society applied for a grant from the town council hoping to give the new organisation a much needed initial boost in its efforts to ensure that the building could be restored for future use. But when the issue was discussed at a meeting of the finance and general purposes committee on Tuesday 22nd July there was a 4-3 vote against doing so. The decision, however, was not final and needed ratification by the full council at its meeting on Tuesday 5th August.

August: The full council met on Tuesday 5th August and members agreed a £5,000 grant to help the project on its way. The decision was not unanimous with two councillors still voting against. They were Councillors Brian Fines and David Higgs (both Bourne West) with Councillor Higgs saying: “We had a clear and concise vote by the people of the town and they were against using taxpayers’ money for this purpose”, which was not strictly correct.

In fact, the council carried out a survey in February which included a loaded question suggesting that the council tax would have to be increased by a frightening amount to pay for a restoration. At no time did anyone suggest that the £40,000 already accrued by the council for cemetery preservation should not be spent for the purpose it was intended and to imply otherwise was a red herring. There were, however, sufficient people who wanted the building to be restored for the council to explore the possibilities and this has led to the current situation.

Extract from the Bourne Diary, Saturday 9th August:

The Victorian chapel has been under the stewardship of the town council since 1974 and as it is now a Grade II listed building, the authority has a legal duty of repair and maintenance and to foot the bill. Under the new arrangement, this liability would be passed to the Bourne Preservation Society and one would have expected unanimous support from councillors for those dedicated volunteers with the heritage of this town at heart who are prepared to do the work which they have neglected and that the sum of £5,000 was a small price to pay in return.

October: The working party was still working on details of a handover agreement but the legalities of the lease were said to be causing difficulties. The society felt that this was slowing down negotiations and that the work could be speeded up. Chairman Jack Slater told the Stamford Mercury (October 10th): “We are very disappointed about the delays and that the town council is not yet prepared and unable to make a decision. It is adding to an already lengthy process.”

EVENTS DURING 2009

March: An independent expert assessment by the Bourne Preservation Society concluded that restoration work on the chapel could be completed for £250,000 which is considerably less than the various figures quoted by the town council. Meanwhile, the campaign to save the chapel was now being emulated elsewhere in the county with the Boston Victorian Cemetery Trust being formed to preserve not only the town's chapel but also the cemetery itself together with the gatehouse and mortuary building, the entire 12-acre site to be leased at a peppercorn rent and turned into a community and conservation based trust.

September: Negotiations for the lease continued with both sides blaming each other for the delays but there was still no decision over terms of a pre-lease agreement. The society repeatedly expressed its wish to get moving on its plans to restore the chapel but the council insisted that it must be sure that what was proposed was feasible and, more importantly, financially achievable.

September: The town council met representatives of the Architectural Heritage Fund which offers grants to groups trying to protect historic buildings. Such a grant would enable the society to employ surveyors and structural engineers to draw up a plan of the building's intended use and to provide a more accurate figure of the repair costs. The society welcomed the development and indicated that an application for a grant would be made once a letter of confirmation of the lease had been received from the council and it was hoped that this might happen at the full town council meeting in November.

October: A face to face meeting was held on Tuesday 13th October after which the society appeared confident of not only taking over the building but also of working with the town council in the future. “It was a positive step”, said chairman Jack Slater, “because it meant that both sides were now in helpful discussions for the first time.” The clerk to the council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs, was equally optimistic. “Councillors seemed much more positive towards the project and that the society could carry it forward”, she said.

EVENTS DURING 2010

May: The Bourne Preservation Society formed the Bourne Preservation Trust to function in addition to the society as a revolving buildings trust, becoming a company limited by guarantee which enabled it apply to the Charity Commissioners to become a registered charity and so seek grants to fund the restoration work. At the same time, the town council granted permission for preliminary work to begin on site and volunteers started removing the ivy from the outside walls, dismantling the remains of a disused building close by and tidying up the garden. "This is a big step forward and hopefully we will soon be in a position to take on every aspect of the restoration project", said chairman Jack Slater. In the meantime, the trust has become an active organisation with an interesting web site, its members meeting monthly with regular speakers on a wide variety of topics, usually relating to history and preservation.

Photographed in August 2010

June: The town council sought permission from the Church of England commissioners to lift an existing covenant on the chapel restricting the south chapel to its most recent use, that of a workshop and office for cemetery staff. Such a restriction would hamper plans to bring the building back into useful life as a chapel of rest and columbarium. An initial application had been made to the Diocese of Lincoln who advised that the matter should be referred to the church commissioners.

July: The finance and general purposes decided at its meeting on Tuesday 20th July to regularise future meetings with Bourne Preservation Trust. Until now, the two sides had taken turns in chairing meetings and taking minutes but Councillor Brian Fines said that this was not a professional procedure and he proposed that the council be given sole authority to minute and chair meetings in the future and this was passed by six votes to three although still needs to be ratified by the full council meeting in August. The trust disagreed and The Local newspaper reported that members regarded the move as an attempt by some councillors to derail the project.

July: The suggestion that some councillors were trying "to scupper" a deal between the town council and the society was denied by Councillor Brian Fines who wrote a letter to The Local newspaper on July 30th saying that the remark had given an impression that did not exist and that as far as he was aware, none of the town councillors "were specifically against" the transfer of the cemetery chapel. "I, for example", he wrote, "congratulated the trust at our last meeting for their practical work undertaken around the building and wished them success in obtaining finance in order to take over the chapel."

August: A proposal by Councillor Brian Fines to take sole control of meetings between the town council and Bourne Preservation Trust was rejected by a full meeting of the council on August 31st. He was the only member who voted for the proposal which was subsequently lost and at that point he left the meeting and the following month, he tendered his resignation from the council. Jack Slater, chairman of the trust, said afterwards: "This issue is now behind us and it is hoped that this interruption to the project will not hinder future progress. We now look forward to continuing co-operation with council members."

September: The trust obtained the services of an architect to assist in the preparation of a grant application to the Architectural Heritage Fund. Carl Andrews is a member of Soul Architects of Worksop, Nottinghamshire, which supports a Business in the Community scheme run by an organisation called ProHelp and provides free advice and support for such projects. Mr Andrews spent Wednesday 15th September carrying out a thorough inspection of the building and collecting data for a status report which will be used in a submission to the fund early next year. The trust also obtained the services of Langleys Solicitors from their Lincoln office who will be assisting in the negotiation of a 99 year lease with the town council.

September: Tesco Stores which is building a new super store on a site in South Road which is due to open early next year, wrote on September 14th indicating support for the chapel as a community project and a site meeting is to be arranged for later this year. This was seen as a major development in the preservation process and one likely to prove most productive.

EVENTS DURING 2011

April: Bourne Preservation Trust became a registered charity, No 1141043, from 1st April 2011, but had still not been granted permission by the town council to take over the cemetery chapel. The chairman, Jack Slater, told members in a statement: "All we now need is agreement on the terms of the lease. We have achieved so much over the past three years yet there is still such a long way to go but we should not underestimate our successes and they will keep coming. We have the tenacity and skills among our committee and members to achieve our goals. The council has written to the Lincoln Diocese requesting that they remove the covenant they hold on the south chapel completely and we hope that the diocese will see our intended actions as a positive step and support it by the removal of the covenant."

WHO SAID WHAT AND WHEN

This is everyone’s ideal of a cemetery with a picture postcard entrance consisting of a lodge, a lavender and rose bed, chapel and entrance drive, and surrounded by old headstones and yew trees. - adjudication in the Cemetery of the Year Award, September 2002, in which Bourne was placed first out of 46 entries in the category for under 12 acres.

My opinion is to take the damn thing down. Much of the stone and especially the Collyweston roof tiles are worth a considerable amount of money and would be a return against demolition costs. – Councillor John Kirkman (now retired), speaking at a meeting of town councillors in Bourne on Wednesday, 5th January 2005, when it was proposed to pull down the Victorian chapel of rest in the town cemetery to save paying maintenance costs.

A reasonable investment a few years ago may have saved it but unfortunately we can’t rewrite history. – Councillor Trevor Holmes (Bourne West), commenting on the town council’s proposal to pull down the Victorian chapel in the cemetery at Bourne, The Local newspaper, Friday 14th January 2005.

I am surprised that no one has suggested renovating the chapel in the town cemetery as a project for the Len Pick Charitable Trust. I feel sure Len Pick would have approved. – email from former Bourne resident Mary Pearson (née Kelly), Nottingham, England, Tuesday 18th January 2005.

It has never received the ongoing maintenance which would have kept it in good condition. - Councillor Guy Cudmore (now retired), writing in an article for this web site on why the chapel should be demolished, 22nd January 2005.

I do assure you that taking into account the sentiments of the majority of the people in Bourne, we will do our utmost to retain the chapel as we do not wish to see yet another Bourne heritage landmark disappear. - letter from the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy Smith (Bourne East), who was also chairman of the town council, to James Wherry, chairman of Wherry and Sons Ltd, the old-established firm of seed merchants, in response to his query about the future of the cemetery where many of his ancestors are buried, 29th July 2005.

The council does not have the option to do nothing. - statement from Bourne Town Council over the cemetery chapel, issued to the local press on 8th December 2006.

It is a shame that the chapel has been allowed to fall into the present state. Sadly, the principle of neglect, that of owners allowing a building to self-destruct and then claim it is unsafe and should be demolished, is totally unjustified. - Robert Kitchener, secretary, Bourne Civic Society, in an article on the cemetery chapel published February 2007.

A fiver spent on maintenance saves £5,000 of refurbishment. - Bob Harvey, writing to the Bourne Forum on the £400,000 survey report into the cemetery chapel, Monday 14th January 2008.

I did ask the town council why it had been left to get into the state that it is in now and was told that it's demise was not Bourne Town Council's fault. I have only seen one estimate so am not sure if they have had more than one quote. - Councillor Brenda Johnson (Bourne East) in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Monday 14th January 2008.

I am sure we can raise the cash for this project. It won't be easy but I'm sure its possible and the sooner the chapel is restored, the less money it will take. - Councillor Helen Powell (Bourne West) in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Monday 14th January 2008.

The chapel is owned by and the responsibility of the town council so why shouldn't they get on with saving it. The present condition is in a large part due to lack of maintenance during the 34 years it has been in their custody. They might start by getting some realistic quotes from competent local builders, maybe on a job by job basis, starting with the most urgent like repairing the guttering and down pipes to get the roof water away from the foundations. The prices they have been coming up with seem to be plucked out of thin air, first it was £80,000 then £250,000 and now £400,000, with the £320,000 rise happening in less than a year. - Pete Neumann in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Sunday 20th January 2008.

The Ancient Monuments Society last year wrote to the council urging it to save the chapel, giving examples of a number of others that had been successfully funded, and agreed to stand by to give further advice. This week, I spoke to the secretary Matthew Saunders. He confirmed my fears: no one at the council has even taken the trouble to pick up the telephone to contact him after all this time! I find that simply extraordinary. - Anthony Jennings, of Dowsby Hall, who alerted several national conservation organisations to the plight of the chapel, in a letter to The Local newspaper, Friday 25th January 2008.

When I can afford to, I reckon we will look elsewhere to live. I wouldn't even want to be buried in the town cemetery with the outlook that it will soon have. - Adrian Simmonds, in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Saturday 23rd February 2008.

The Dowsby Hall question remains unanswered. The town council has not yet replied to this key point made by Anthony Jennings, of Dowsby, (see entry above) so they are not yet in a position to take any view at all on the cemetery chapel. - Brynley Heaven, in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Tuesday 11th March 2008.

When this issue was first raised I had a word with a good friend of mine who has had a great deal of experience in saving such buildings. Indeed, he had I believe 47 cases, in which he succeeded with virtually all. Having had a very senior position in the Civic Trust, he knows how to go about raising funds for the conservation of such buildings. He is not from this part of the country but knows about Bourne. He was more than willing to assist. I made [Councillor] Trevor Holmes aware of this but no contact was ever made. This sort of matter should not be left in the hands of local councillors who are, in my opinion, totally incompetent in any event. - Kenneth Jacob, in a contribution to the Bourne Forum, Tuesday 11th March 2008.

I am not aware that any of Bourne town councillors is specifically against the transfer of the cemetery chapel. I believe therefore that it is wrong for the Bourne Preservation Trust to say that any of the Bourne town councillors seeks to scupper the deal. - Councillor Brian Fines (Bourne West) in a letter to The Local newspaper, Friday 30th July 2010.