The flooding of 1897

Not since the Glen bank some sixteen and a half years ago has the Bourne district been so seriously flooded as during the past week. The incessant rains, combined with the melting snow, produced more water than any of the drains in the parish were able to cope with.

At dinner-time, the terrace houses in North Street were inundated by the overflow of a drain which runs at the back of the Woodview houses. Furniture had to be removed from the ground floors and the occupants were kept for some time constantly checking the rising of the water.

Soon after three o'clock, the brook which drains a part of Bourne Wood and the fields leading from it, and which crosses under the North Road near to Mrs Pick's house, overflowed its banks. This caused the main road to become flooded and the deluge being augmented by a large quantity of surface water, the street was soon converted into a lake which extended from Cuckoo Bush Cottage to the police station.

The Albion Terrace houses, which lie immediately opposite the brook, and on the lowest part of the road, were the first to suffer. The furniture had to be removed from the rooms and the doors barricaded with pieces of wood and clay. That being the lowest part of the road, the water when at its height would be quite four feet deep. Residents on the north of the flood who were in the town had to be conveyed in traps which were constantly plying between the two extremes.

The water reached its height about six o'clock; soon after seven it showed signs of rapidly abating; and before morning, the streets were again quite clear. Other parts of the town suffered a similar visitation. Coggles Causeway, which connects South Street with Eastgate, was impassable under the railway bridge, the water there attaining a considerably depth. The river at Queen's Bridge in Eastgate rose rapidly and was overflowing its banks before three o'clock. Mr Hinson's garden, which adjoins, was flooded and despite their efforts the occupants were unable to keep the water out of the premises.

On the opposite side of the road, Mr Branston experienced great difficulty in grappling with the flood. Having taken precautionary steps in time, the stock had been removed from the shop out of harm's reach and the doors barricaded. Despite this, however, the water began to rise through the floor and upon removing a portion of the latter they had to combat an almost inexhaustible supply which kept them fully employed all Friday night and the greater part of Saturday.

The houses adjoining Mr Branston's shop were in even a worse plight. Being situated in about the lowest part of the road, the water quickly entered these dwellings, driving the occupants upstairs at four o'clock. The doors were left open and the water rushed through the houses, at times being quite three feet deep.

On the other side of Queen's Bridge, the water rose to within a few inches of Mr Thorpe's shop and extended as far as Mr Shipley's house. In front of that gentleman's workshop is a gully which, in the ordinary course of events, empties itself into the Car Dyke . On this occasion, however, things were reversed and the water from the Car Dyke was forced up the gully quite a foot higher than the level of the road.

Lower down Eastgate, the water extended nearly across the road and at the Woolpack, occupied by Mr A Pick, it was reported to be deep enough to float the beer barrels in the cellar.

The river banks were watched all night but, despite the fact that no breach was reported, the Glen overflowed its banks, nearly the whole of the South Fen being placed under water. From Tongue End to the Fifth Drove in the South Fen there was little to be seen in the earlier part of the week but a wide expanse of water with an occasional hedge or fence.

In some instances, the water was reported to be over two feet deep. On the north side, the occupiers have fared somewhat better but from Twenty Drove to the Greyhound public house, the majority of the land is under water. This will prove serious to the farmers as, should it remain very long, their wheat crops will be entirely spoilt and the preparations for the spring corn seriously delayed.

Beyond Guthram, and in the Spalding Union, the Glen bank yielded on Saturday morning to the immense pressure and a breach some thirty or forty feet was made. This flooded the fen district on the Spalding side to an alarming degree, the water entirely covering all the land in the vicinity, and blocking the road to Spalding. The breach was, however, stopped on Sunday and on Monday the water had considerably subsided, the road then being clear. The mishap, of course, relieved the river very considerably and prevented a threatening breach of the Bourne Eau.

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