Bourne Preservation Society
& Bourne Preservation Trust

FORMED APRIL 2008 - INCORPORATED 2010
REGISTERED CHARITY NO 1141043 from 1st April 2011

The latest organisation to be formed in Bourne is committed to the preservation and restoration of our ancient buildings, notably the Victorian chapel in the town cemetery which was recently under threat of demolition.

The decision by the town council to pull it down resulted in widespread opposition by conservationists with the result that it was eventually listed by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) on the recommendation of English Heritage and early in 2008, a Save our Chapel group was formed to save and restore it. By April that year, the group had become the Bourne Preservation Society with elected officers and committee, a constitution and dedicated aims, and a dossier on how the building could be saved was drawn up and providing a proposal for restoration and future management of the chapel.

It was handed over on Tuesday 22nd April 2008 to the clerk to the council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs, by the society chairman, Jack Slater, ahead of a public meeting called to decide the future of the chapel the following week. Mr Slater said afterwards: "We look forward to a good working relationship with the town council and hope the outcome will be to have a successful mutual agreement."

Mrs Jacobs said: "I am delighted an organisation has come forward with what seems to be a very good proposal, with ideas and ways to achieve the preservation."

The society proposed to restore the chapel back to its original use and make it safe, at an estimated cost of £400,000 although alternative estimates are likely to be sought. It also wants to reintroduce funeral services at the chapel with additional features such as a columbarium designed to hold burial urns inside the building and a book of remembrance together with a waiting room and wake facility. It is also proposed to hire the chapel out for community use as a meeting room for suitable activities.

Funds will be raised through grants and donations. Prior to the hand over of the dossier, the society arranged two open sessions to give the public a chance to inspect the property and discuss its future with officials who were in attendance.

The objectives of the society have been set out as follows:

1. To provide information to the public on the historic buildings,
architecture and history of Bourne and the surrounding villages.
2. To work with the townspeople and authorities to preserve the historic
buildings and the historic nature of the town and surrounding villages.
3. To enhance and enlarge the designated Conservation Area of Bourne.

The elected officers are Jack Slater (chairman), Peter Gillatt (vice-chairman), Helene Currell (secretary), John Venn (treasurer), and committee members Anthony Jennings, James Wherry, Brenda Jones, Gordon Cochrane, Peter Ellis, Robert Kitchener, Jim Jones and Helen Powell.

The town council met in June and approved the handover of the building to the society. Councillor Mark Horn said that the decision would reflect the efforts made by the group and added: "This council resolves to request that the clerk to the council instructs legal advisers to negotiate and prepare a long lease in regard to the chapel on terms acceptable to this council." Mr Slater said that the decision demonstrated the council's confidence in the society and its aims. ""We now look forward to working with the council to agree the terms and plan the way forward", he said. "This will be a very long project requiring the raising of large sums of money and many hours of voluntary work."

There was a set back for the society on Tuesday 22nd July 2008 when the town council's finance and general purposes committee voted 4-3 not to provide cash aid but this decision was overturned when the full council met on Tuesday 5th August and members agreed a £5,000 grant to help the project on its way. The decision was not unanimous with two councillors still voting against. They were Councillors Brian Fines and David Higgs (both Bourne West) with Councillor Higgs saying: “We had a clear and concise vote by the people of the town and they were against using taxpayers’ money for this purpose” which was not strictly correct.

In fact, the council carried out a survey in February which included a loaded question suggesting that the council tax would have to be increased by a frightening amount to pay for a restoration costed at £400,000 and few therefore agreed to this course of action. A total of 7,000 questionnaires were sent out but only 443 people filled them in (6.3%) which meant that 93.7% did not reply which hardly justified the “clear and concise vote” which was claimed. At no time did anyone suggest that the £40,000 already accrued by the council for cemetery preservation should not be spent for the purpose it was intended and to imply otherwise was a red herring. There were, however, sufficient people who wanted the building to be restored for the council to explore the possibilities and this has led to the current situation.

The Victorian chapel has been under the stewardship of the town council since 1974 and as it is now a Grade II listed building, the authority has a legal duty of repair and maintenance and to foot the bill. Under the new arrangement, this liability has been passed to the Bourne Preservation Society and one would have expected unanimous support from councillors for those dedicated volunteers with the heritage of this town at heart who are prepared to do the work which they have neglected and that the sum of £5,000 was a small price to pay in return.

Negotiations for the lease however, were prolonged with both sides blaming each other for the delays and by the autumn of 2009 there was still no agreement. The two sides had been at loggerheads for the previous 18 months over the terms of a pre-lease agreement with the society keen to get moving on its plans to restore the chapel and the council anxious to ensure that what was proposed was feasible and, more importantly, financially achievable.

A face to face meeting was eventually arranged in October after which the society appeared confident of not only taking over the building but also of working with the town council in the future. “It was a positive step”, said chairman Jack Slater, “because it meant that both sides were now in helpful discussions for the first time.” The clerk to the council, Mrs Nelly Jacobs, was equally optimistic. “Councillors seemed much more positive towards the project and that the society could carry it forward”, she said.

Newspaper report from The Local, Friday 23rd October 2009

Added to this, there had also been meetings between the town council and the Architectural Heritage Fund, a registered charity founded in 1976 to offer advice, information and grants to groups trying to promote the conservation of historic buildings, and money from this source would enable the society employ surveyors and structural engineers to advise on repairs, intended uses and, most importantly, the final cost.

In the meantime, the society has become an active organisation with an interesting web site, its members meeting monthly with regular speakers on a wide variety of topics, usually relating to history and preservation.

In May 2010,the Bourne Preservation Society formed the Bourne Preservation Trust to function in addition to the society as a revolving buildings trust, becoming a company limited by guarantee which enabled it apply to the Charity Commissioners to become a registered charity and so seek grants to fund the restoration work. At the same time, the town council granted permission for preliminary work to begin on site and volunteers started removing the ivy from the outside walls,  dismantling the remains of a disused building close by and tidying up the garden. "This is a big step forward and hopefully we will soon be in a position to take on every aspect of the restoration project", said chairman Jack Slater.

MERGER WITH BOURNE CIVIC SOCIETY

In June 2016, Bourne Preservation Society disbanded and merged with Bourne Civic Society. The organisation had been formed in 2008 with the intention of saving and restoring the Victorian chapel in the town cemetery although other projects were subsequently added to their aims including restoring the Old Grammar School and regular maintenance of the town’s notice boards and floral planters.

A joint statement said that the merger would mean that the Civic Society would continue with their various joint endeavours in conservation and the protection of our old buildings and three members of the BTS immediately joined the committee of BCS.
The Bourne Preservation Trust which had been formed by the BTS as stand alone company/charity remains in existence but is now under the umbrella of BCS instead of the old BPS.

Chairman Jack Slater said in a statement: “Regarding the cemetery chapel we have had no contact from the town council since notifying them of cessation of negotiations almost two years ago. We have told them that we are still available to re-start negotiations but have heard nothing. The Old Grammar School continues as a project but is currently awaiting clarification of legal title, land dispute, etc by the Bourne Education Foundation and it is very much their wish to progress it. This project will be handled by BPT but the building will be integrated into the Heritage Experience in which we plan to involve Baldock’s Mill and others.”

REVISED JUNE 2016

See also    

Listing the cemetery chapel     A summary of events

Public information boards