The Danish influence

The Danish influence

The influence of the Danes on this part of Lincolnshire dates back to the 9th century when they invaded eastern England, bringing devastating change. After many years of raids from across the North Sea, the seafaring Vikings eventually came in greater force, prepared to stay and settle, and exploit the resources of the country. From 865 AD onwards, the Saxon kingdoms were continually locked in conflict and the crucial date of the history of the Danish activity in this area was 877 AD.

Lincolnshire was part of eastern Mercia and in that year it was partitioned with its dependent provinces into two regions, one of which was left under the Mercian king and the other divided up among the soldiers of the Danish army. This latter region cannot be exactly identified but certainly included the area covered by the present counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby and Leicester, if we are to accept the evidence of local place names of which there are hundreds of Danish origin.

In Lincolnshire alone, there are some 300 of these, the majority ending in thorpe and by, which originally meant a dwelling place or single farm, and then came to stand for a village. In the immediate vicinity of Bourne, Danish place names intermingle with those of Saxon origin ending in ton or ham, meaning settlement. Thus Thurlby and Northorpe are Danish, lying near to Baston which is Saxon; Edenham is Saxon but linked with Scottlethorpe which is of Danish origin, as is Morton with Hanthorpe, while Pointon is close to Milthorpe and Dowsby. To the south of the River Welland, place names of Danish origin occur less frequently which would indicate that the most intensive area of Danish settlement lay to the north of the river.

The bases of five of the main Danish armies which settled in eastern England were the five boroughs of Derby, Leicester, Nottingham, Lincoln and Stamford, while in the immediate area of Bourne itself, there are few traces of Danish place names. Cawthorpe is obviously one and the term gate which appears in Eastgate and Meadowgate, is the Danish for street or thoroughfare. The Auster wood, west of the Thurlby road, marks the eastern limit of the great Brunswald Forest which stretched westwards into the heart of England. Austr is the old Norse for east, while Austri was the god of the dawn, and the name survives as the Austerby, a street to the south east of Bourne. Toft signifies a green knoll while Lound is most probably associated with tree worship.

Gobold's Park, adjoining Guthrum in Bourne Fen, was named after one of Guthrum's captains whose settlement was part of the Dane-lagh. Gobold also renounced his pagan faith and became a Christian, much to King Alfred's approval. He directed his energies into the draining of his land which ran alongside the Bourne Eau, embanking the waterway and building a causeway from his farmstead to Church Road. This causeway is still used but the name of its builder has become corrupted with time to Coggles or sometimes Cobbles.

Guthram, which marks the eastern limit of Bourne parish, may be a Danish term because the chief named Guthrum was one of the greatest of the Danish leaders in England. It was at one time believed that there might be some direct connection between him and the place name Guthram but there is no solid evidence for this. The idea, apart from the obvious temptation to link the two names, seems to have sprung from an account in the medieval chronicle of Crowland Abbey written under the name of Ingulph. This states that in the ninth century, Bourne belonged to a lord named Morcar (the same name as the Lord of Boume two centuries later), and that he helped Earl Algar against the Danes, one of whose commanders was Guthrum. The armies fought a battle where, according to Ingulph, the Danes lost three of their kings or chieftains. The next day Guthrum attacked, then pretended to flee, but suddenly turned on the Saxons whose apparent triumph had caused them to forget their discipline. In Guthrum's onslaught, many Saxons were killed, including Algar and Morcar himself who was defending the right wing. Thus Guthrum was able to overrun the southern part of what later became Kesteven and the place name Guthram has been linked with him. Unfortunately the whole story rests on the flimsiest foundations, for it is now well known that Ingulph's chronicle is highly suspect and cannot be relied upon. Commenting on the story of this battle, the Rev. Edmund Venables wrote in a late 19th century paper on Bourne and its history: "One wishes that so stirring a tale, and one so flattering to Lincolnshire and to Bourne, rested on a surer foundation than Ingulph."

J T Swif's account of 1909 however is quite emphatic for he writes: "After successive victories fought in the battle of Edington, Guthram was defeated by King Alfred. By the solemn peace of Wedmore in 878, he was bound to submission and he and many of his followers became Christians and were baptised. Guthrum married an English wife and is thought to have made Bourne his settlement until returning to his native land, in accordance with Alfred's wishes."

Ingulph also gives us vivid accounts of the destruction of Christian churches and monasteries wrought by the Danish invaders, in particular the burning of Crowland Abbey. Despite inevitable exaggerations in these stories, it does seem that Christian buildings with their contents were a natural target for the Danes in their search for booty and wealth, and it may well be that organised religion died out for a time in those areas of Danish settlement. But in the long run, Christianity triumphed, and when Canute became king of England in 1016, he showed a firm devotion to the church and its interests.

During the fifty years between his accession and the Norman Conquest, there must have been energetic building of churches in Lincolnshire, although of the monasteries destroyed by the Danes, Crowland and Stow were the only two which rose again in this period. By the year 1086, there were at least 222 churches in Lincolnshire, and the county
had been divided into parishes.

It is tempting to ask whether Bourne was the site of one of these churches? Our only clue comes from the Domesday Book which says that among the lands held in Bourne by Oger the Breton in 1086, there is mentioned "half a church and a priest", which had previously belonged to the manor of the Saxon earl, Morcar. These Domesday entries concerning "half a church" were not uncommon and it is thought that they may have dated back to the foundation of a church by two or more lords who contributed to its building and endowment, and thus they were entitled to a half, or some other share, of the profits. In any case, this Bourne entry in the Domesday Book seems to indicate that a church existed here in the pre-Conquest period, though no part of it remains in the present building.