The Heritage Centre

The Heritage Centre has been based at Baldock's Mill in South Street since 1989, opening after a long period of restoration, largely completed by volunteers. The early work was carried out by boys and girls from Bourne Secondary School (now the Robert Manning Technology College) under the guidance of teachers Mike Watkins and Alan Dawn. It was then envisaged that the building would eventually become an industrial and agricultural museum but no firm plans had been drawn up.

Nevertheless, the youngsters tackled the work with gusto, chipping and renovating  brickwork, plastering, fitting new doors, painting and decorating. The roof was repaired and broken windows re-glazed and while work was going ahead, gifts of old equipment and other artefacts began to arrive for the museum display planned for the building.

Bourne Civic Society eventually stepped in with a proposal to run the mill as a Heritage Centre and in 1981, Bourne United Charities agreed to lease it to them for a peppercorn rent in order that it would be preserved for community use. This lease was renewed in 2002 for a further 21 years and the full potential of the building in this new role is slowly being realised.

Further restoration work has been carried out by a dedicated band of helpers and although funds have been slow in coming, a Heritage Centre has already been established with a memorial room dedicated to the life and times of Raymond Mays, the motor racing pioneer who lived in the town.

Other rooms are slowly being filled with artefacts and archive material relating to the town's history including a detailed survey of the water supplies that brought commercial success a century ago, railway maps and memorabilia from the days when Bourne was a rail junction, the old water cress beds, the brewing industry and a history of the Bourne Eau, and a collection of old photographs showing aspects of Bourne in times past.

In April 2006, a major addition came with the opening of the Charles Worth Gallery commemorating the life and times of Charles Worth (1825-95), the solicitor's son from Bourne who established an internationally famous fashion house in Paris, and containing a copy of one of his creations from 1885, a collection of fashion artefacts from the period and a photographic record of his career. This feature was a personal triumph for Jim and Brenda Jones who organised much of the work and even invested some of their own money in the project.

Also on display in the Heritage Centre are the stones from an Anglo-Saxon arch reputed to have been removed from Bourne Abbey during restoration work in the late 19th century. They were taken to the old vicarage, now the Cedars residential care home for the elderly, where they stood in the copse area adjoining the church hall until the vicarage was sold in the mid-1980s. The field adjoining the mill was also known as Baldock's Paddock but this was acquired by Bourne United Charities in 1947 and the land used for the creation of an open space incorporating a stone cenotaph with the names of the dead from two world wars in a dignified setting which we know today as the War Memorial Gardens.

In June 2001, the Heritage Centre was presented with a silver rose bowl by the Rotary Club of Bourne for the most outstanding community achievement during the previous 12 months, an award that was handed over to the chairman of the Civic Society, Mrs Brenda Jones, at a special lunch. The same award was presented to the society for a second time in 2004, this time recognising the work of society member Jim Jones carried out during 2002-03 on restoring the two water wheels that originally powered the mill.

The project cost £12,000 and was funded through grants, mainly from Lincolnshire County Council, which enabled the society bring the building back into its original state when it was used for milling corn. As a result, in the summer of 2005, he was presented with a highly commended certificate by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust for his achievement as part of an awards scheme launched in 1992 to promote the environment and raise awareness of wildlife and conservation.

The new sign outside Baldock's Mill, pictured at the top, announcing its role as the town's Heritage Centre was erected in 2005 during a £4,000 repainting and refurbishment project on the windows. It was painted by local artisan Gilbert Smith who added the gold leaf free of charge.

But the work continues and in 2014 the society was given the adjoining two-storey southern section of the mill building which has until now been leased to a neighbour who has been using it as a garage but Bourne United Charities have agreed to hand it over to the Civic Society and plans are being drawn up to turn it into a new exhibition area. This will be a most welcome addition because for some years now the society has been hampered through lack of space as their archives and exhibits expand with every room and cupboard filled to overflowing but members have managed to cope although with some difficulty.

REVISED MARCH 2015

See also

Charles Worth Gallery    Raymond Mays Memorial Room     The BRM trophies

A memory of North Street     The Heritage Centre should get tax relief    

The wedding exhibition of 2011     The 1950s exhibition of 2012

The Heritage Centre to get more space

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