The pool was originally a fish pond dating back to 1138 used to rear carp for the monks at Bourne Abbey. It was converted into public swimming baths soon after the Great War of 1914-18 and taken over by Bourne United Charities in 1922 when major improvements were carried out, with the erection of dressing rooms at either end and an approach to the baths from Coggles Causeway. The work of converting it from the old monks' pond was carried out by Mr T Hinson under the direction of a local committee comprising Mr T W Mays (president) and the plans were drawn up by Mr R G Coles, surveyor to Bourne Urban District Council. An official opening by Lady Kesteven was held on Saturday 12th August 1922.

The pool was originally unheated and with corrugated iron sides, and swimmers could often feel the eels wriggling between their toes as they walked on the muddy bottom. 
In the early days, mixed bathing was not allowed and so there were separate sessions for men and women and the ladies are pictured below in 1923. The picture above was taken from a postcard published in 1936 showing the view looking east towards the railway line with its signal peeping over the fence. The four-tier diving boards had been installed three years earlier in 1933. On the left, we see a busy day at the pool in 1969, a photograph featured in the town guide for that year.

These pictures were taken circa 1946, the one above looking west towards the Abbey Church and below, looking east towards the Bourne to Sleaford railway line with the town's gasometer just visible on the skyline to the left.

Some of the local lads using the pool in 1946. They are, left to right,
(back row) John Gray, Arthur Ulyatt, Charles Maddison and Dim Gilbert,
(centre) Roy Astley, Peter Bentley, Tony Brooks, Brian Hilless and Don Brinkley,
(front) Alan Damby and Roy Parrish.

A postcard view of the pool in 1968.

THE IMPROVEMENTS OF 1933

Major improvements to the outdoor swimming pool were planned in 1932 and agreed at a meeting of Bourne Charity Trustees on Friday 2nd December. During the discussion, it was decided that the changes would make the baths an asset to the town. The work was completed by the following summer, as reported by the Stamford Mercury newspaper on Friday 11th August 1933:

 BOURNE'S LIDO: The greatly improved swimming baths at Bourne are proving to be a veritable Lido, and their great popularity is definitely justifying the money spent on improvements by the Bourne United Charity Trustees. It is now ten years since the baths were taken over by the Trustees, the property then belonging to the Vicar of Bourne, as it had done from time immemorial. The site is what was formerly the monks' pond and garden and ten years ago the pond was converted into a swimming bath. There was nothing very elaborate about it - the sides were lined with corrugated iron and the bottom was partly concreted.
But what a great transformation has taken place! Instead, there is now a bath 154 feet long and 50 feet wide, lined with reinforced concrete. The depth of the water at the shallow end is 2 feet 9 inches and at the deep end 7 feet 3 inches. A substantial diving structure has been erected, the apex of which reaches a height of 14 feet. There are in addition two spring boards. A concrete pavement runs right around the edge. The water is supplied by the Bourne Eau and is filtered through a coke bed. It is unique in that the bath is both filled and emptied by the gravity of the water, thus obviating the necessity of a pump. The water flows out through a dyke, passes under the Bourne Eau, and rejoins it further down the stream. A lawn around the sides of the bath has been laid and there are several flower beds and rockeries. 
The only drawback at present is the dressing accommodation, but Bourne readers will be pleased to learn that the present arrangements are only temporary and that next year permanent and more spacious accommodation will be erected.
There are now nearly 300 subscribers, besides casual swimmers. The work of rebuilding the baths was carried out by Messrs Bowman and Sons of Stamford. The baths will close in September for the autumn and winter.

The following week, on Friday 18th August, the newspaper gave more details of the work planned in time for the next year's opening:

BOURNE SWIMMING BATHS IMPROVEMENTS: Patrons of Bourne swimming baths will have the problem of changing accommodation solved for them by the time the baths are opened next season. New dressing boxes are to be erected, numbering over 80 in all. At present, owning to the extreme popularity of the baths, the changing accommodation is being taxed to its limits and during the rush periods patrons have to change behind canvas when the boxes are full. Next season however, this will be altered for the trustees of the Bourne United Charities have approved a plan for the provision of additional accommodation.
The new buildings will be erected in the Abbey Lawn in two blocks facing each other on either side of the convenience. They will be built on concrete and there will be a concrete pathway down the middle. The sides and roofs will be constructed of asbestos. At the monthly meeting of the United Charity Trustees, when the proposed work was approved, the Clerk (Mr H M A Stanton) reported that the total cost of the improvements to the swimming baths was £1,242 10s. 3d. [almost £70,000 by today's values] which was £46 10s. in excess of the estimates. The excess was entirely due to the cost of the new diving erection and lavatories, which were not included in the original estimates. It has been decided to curtail the attendance of children during the evenings when mixed bathing is allowed.

THE WORK IN PROGRESS

THE WAY THINGS WERE
- contributed by Trevor Pool, Sunday 6th June 2010

THINGS HAVE CHANGED over the years for the outdoor pool. My first memory is of a dirty pond with corrugated iron sides and chains as hand rails. Then it was brought up to fairly modern standards and a light railway was constructed from Abbey Road to take all the building materials up to the site.
When I was of the age to go on my own to swim, my parents bought me a season ticket [not at today's prices]. We lads would start to swim when the pool opened in May and it was brass monkey conditions at times, no heating other than the sunshine. On some occasions during the season, the pool was drained and scrubbed down and refilled from the river and for several days it would be very cold until the sun improved conditions and warmed it up.
Mr and Mrs Atkins were in charge and they had a wooden hut just inside the entrance where they used to display the water temperature. Mr Atkins used to keep a very tight ship and if you stepped out of line you would be in trouble and whatever he said was obeyed without question. On one occasion I got a reward after finding someone's false teeth on the bottom of the pool. It was half a set of teeth actually, so perhaps their chin hit the floor and knocked them out. Who knows what occurred?
There was a lot of chlorine put into the water, very much needed too when you were aware of the contents of the river at that time. In later years, I did maintenance work on the filter system and it always concerned me regarding the safety of the chlorine cylinders. They used gas not powder in those days and the cylinders were kept in the filter room as was a gas mask. If there was a leak you would have to enter the filter room to get the mask and by that time you would have passed out. After 1946, the water came from a bore hole, a cleaner supply and so less chlorine was required but it was still hard water and so they added soda ash to soften it. All a long time ago and I wonder what treatment they need to use today.
In later years, they had some very strange rules and one Sunday afternoon, my wife and I and our son in his pram and six other adults went down to the pool for a swim and we were told the child could not be admitted. The reason given was all children should be in Sunday School so no one had a swim that day.