The Abbey Lawn was originally part of the Abbey House, built in 1764 by George Pochin, Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots, also sometimes known as Bourne Abbey. It was situated immediately next to the Abbey Church in what is now Church Walk but was demolished in 1878. The grassed area at the rear of the building was know as the sheep lawn and used to graze his flocks but after Pochin's death in 1798, the house was acquired by the church in 1849 as the new vicarage and in later years, the public were allowed to use the green space for sporting and leisure pursuits at the discretion of the vicar. From those early beginnings evolved the Abbey Lawn we known today.

Maypole dancing on the Abbey Lawn, pictured circa 1900 by local photographer William Redshaw.

The Abbey Lawn has been home to cricket in Bourne since 1803 and although it has mainly been a game for the men, women did often participate and even had their own team known as the Bourne Ladies. A typical match took place on 9th August 1913 and was reported as follows by the Stamford Mercury:

Bourne Ladies (assisted by visitors) entertained Miss Baker's team from Morton and an enjoyable match was played. The most successful player was Miss H Bradley of Holbeach, playing for Bourne Ladies, who in two innings secured 13 wickets and scored 14 in the first innings. Miss Ida Dallow took the remaining wickets of the visiting team. The highest scorer of the match was Miss M English of Holbeach, playing for Bourne Ladies, who scored 31 in the two innings. The only other member of the Bourne team who secured double figures was Miss Joyce Dellow who scored 28. For the visitors, Miss Ida Shilcock scored 14 and Miss Tebb nine, and no other member of the team obtained any appreciable number of runs. The most successful bowlers of the visiting team were Miss D Tebb (8 wickets) and Miss I Shilcock (5 wickets). The result of the match was a victory for the Bourne Ladies who scored 44 and 50 (total 94) against 24 and 35 (total 59) scored by the visitors. The match was witnessed by a goodly number of spectators. During the afternoon, tea was provided for the teams, this being ably managed by Mrs J H Berry.

The ladies who made the tea however were not forgotten when the photographer arrived and they were only too willing to have their pictures taken for posterity.

This postcard photograph from circa 1890 was taken from the tower of the Abbey Church and shows the field used for grazing sheep partly fenced off as a football pitch. The outdoor swimming pool can be seen on the right and beyond that is the railway embankment, now demolished, and Notley's Mill  which was pulled down in 1973.

A cricket match in progress at the Abbey Lawn in the summer of 1962. This photograph was taken from the old vicarage with the railway embankment and the gasometer in Spalding Road on the skyline.