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Secrets
of the
Ostler memorial
fountain
by BRIAN PASHLEY
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Few people know that the Ostler
memorial hides two secrets, one from the time it was erected in 1860 and
the other when it was moved from the market place to the cemetery a
century later.
In 1961, the divisional highways surveyor
to Kesteven County Council, Ray Smith, advised Bourne Urban District
Council that due to major road improvement works in the market place at
Bourne, planned for the following year, it would be necessary to remove
the Ostler memorial from its location in the middle of the road where it
was impeding traffic flows.
Apart from resurfacing the highway, a major aspect of the work was to
alter the footpath line outside the Nag's Head public house and the Dinky
sweet shop on the corner [now a hairdressing salon] and to improve the
vehicle lane from Abbey Road into South Street.
The council's engineer and surveyor, Wilfred Howard, reported on the
scheme and its implications to the estates committee and it was agreed
that the fountain could be given a new and safer location at the cemetery
in South Road, the precise spot to be decided at a later date, and that
funding for the work be included in the budget for the 1962-63 financial
year. Early in 1962, the divisional highways surveyor confirmed the
programme for the work by the Kesteven County Council, then the highways
authority.
In the spring of 1962, Bourne UDC arranged the removal of the memorial
prior to the highway improvement scheme, which was 102 years after it was
built in 1860.
It took two days to dismantle the memorial and in order to facilitate its
re-erection, each stone was numbered and sketch plans prepared on site.
This enabled the memorial to be put back up precisely in accordance with
its original form and in the same orientation. The only section of the
memorial not removed from the Market Place was the stone base, which was
so embedded in the highway it could not be shifted without causing
considerable damage. All the material was taken from the site direct to
the equipment store at the cemetery.
A suitable place was eventually identified in the cemetery and approved by
the estates committee and in the autumn of 1962, the memorial was re-built
in its present location.
The work of dismantling and rebuilding the Victorian stone structure was
carried out by two workmen from the council's direct labour organisation,
Edward Stevenson, of Recreation Road, Bourne, and Oliver Gilbert, of
George Street, Bourne, and it was their care and skill that ensured a
successful operation.
While it was being moved, a small glass
bottle was discovered within the base but unfortunately, it was broken at
the neck. But the contents proved to be most interesting. They were taken
to the council offices at 64 North Street, for examination and revealed to
be a note and three coins of the realm dated 1860, the time when the fountain was being erected. The signed note was brief, stating when and
why the memorial had been put up.
Anxious to preserve this historical record, council officials decided to
leave it in place and so a new bottle was found and the contents inserted
and when the memorial was re-built, placed within the structure together
with a second bottle. This was added at the instigation of Mr Howard and
it contained a similar note to that of 1860, explaining the reason why the
memorial had been moved. The note was signed by Wilfred Howard, engineer
and surveyor, Brian Pashley, technical assistant, and Jean Orford,
secretary, and each donated a coin of 1962 to replicate the act of a
century before.
The two bottles with their explanatory notes and coins from the reigns of
Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth II therefore remain within the base of
the Ostler memorial.
There is currently talk that the fountain may be refurbished and perhaps
even moved elsewhere, especially as the town centre is due to be
redesigned and it could even find its way back into a prominent position
within the new development. Whatever happens, perhaps a third bottle with
similar contents can then be added to ensure that future generations can
know of the care and interest that has been taken with this stone
structure that commemorates a man who did so much for this town.
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HELPING DISMANTLE THE MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN
by FRANK WYER
I was very much involved in the work of
dismantling the fountain while working for W M Friend, agricultural
engineers, whose workshops and yard were behind the Corn Exchange
where the market is now situated. One morning, a police inspector
and an official from Bourne Urban District Council arrived and after
some discussion with my boss, I was asked to take the yard tractor
and help the workmen remove the fountain from the Market Place.
The tractor was rather old, an International Farmall model M, fitted
with a hydraulic fore-end loader which in turn had about a 3 ft.
extension on the front with lifting hook on the end. As this machine
was not licensed for going on the road, I enquired whether it was
legal for me to do this and the inspector replied that I was under
police control so it did not matter. "If anyone hits you or hurts
you in any way, it is not your fault", he said.
With that remark ringing in my ears, off I went to the Market Place
when I was met by a police constable and two council workmen with a
Bedford tipper lorry. The top part of the fountain was dismantled
first with the help of chains and ropes and this was transported to
the cemetery to be re-assembled at a later date.
The bowl of the fountain was not so easy. We had to attach a short
length of chain around the pipe in the centre of the bowl and then
fix the chain to the tractor's lifting gear. With much revving and
everyone assisting, we managed to lift the bowl from the base. Then
with the front tyres of the tractor completely flattened and the
wheel rims on the road, I gently moved the tractor away from the
bowl and the lorry driver was able to reverse his lorry underneath
it with fractions to spare.
At the cemetery, the lorry was reversed over the chosen spot and the
bowl of the fountain was eventually lowered to the ground.
See also
W M Friend |
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NOTE: Brian Pashley, aged 69, spent
38 years working for local authorities in the Bourne area. He was
building inspector for Bourne Urban District Council from 1959-74
and was later appointed head of amenity services at South Kesteven
District Council until 1997. He now lives in retirement at Grantham.
Frank Wyer, also retired, lives at Kirkby Underwood, near
Bourne, and wrote his account of the operation in the letters column of
The Local newspaper after reading an article on the subject
by Rex Needle which was published on Friday 3rd November 2006. |
REVISED NOVEMBER
2006
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