Bourne rifle range

The ability to handle a rifle was thought to be necessary for young men during the 19th century because they would then be suitably qualified if they were needed to serve Queen and country. Facilities for shooting practice were also seen as an inducement to recruiting and rifle ranges were therefore popular and used by both military units and civilian clubs. 

Such a facility was provided by Lord Willoughby on the Grimsthorpe estate. It was used by the 15th Lincolnshire Company from 1861 until the unit disbanded in 1873 and in April 1890, the range was made available to the Bourne Rifle Corps that had been formed two years before, drawing its members from the Bourne district and from Billingborough. The Stamford Mercury reported: 

It forms one of the safest and prettiest inland ranges in the country. The range extends 900 yards in front of the target, one and a quarter miles in the rear, and its width is 500 yards. The entire space comprised within these limits is free from the intervention of any building whatever. The butts are really cut into a large hill which gradually rises for some distance in the rear of the targets. The targets, Wenser's patent eclipse, are canvas with a moving mantlet. The new range was formally opened on Tuesday by Adjutant Lloyd and Captain Smith, the latter firing the first shot. The veteran volunteer sergeant, William Hall, had the honour of making the first bulls eye. There was a very high wind blowing from the left front and rain fell heavily. The targets have been constructed under the management and personal supervision of William Hall. With such an excellent range within two miles of the town, the Bourne contingent should vastly increase its numerical strength.

A decade later, there was an added impetus to rifle training for young men. As a direct result of the Boer War of 1899-1902, in which many local lads went off to fight, the Countess of Ancaster suggested that more men in civilian life ought to be trained to handle a rifle in case they were needed for military service in the future and this lead directly to the formation of the Bourne Rifle Club. 

The idea was first mooted early in 1902 when the troops were returning from South Africa. A meeting was called at the Drill Hall in North Street [now the Vestry Hall] on Thursday 20th March to consider the formation of a club to be affiliated to the National Rifle Association when the vicar, the Rev Hugh Mansfield took the chair. He said that the objective was to provide instruction and practice in the use of the service rifle, to encourage recruiting for the army and auxiliary forces and to be a reserve for home defence.

Captain Cecil Bell, a local solicitor and commander of H Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, the Lincolnshire Regiment, explained how the club would work and conditions of membership and then announced that premises for a rifle range were available. Mr Henry Chappell, a builder of North Street, was willing to provide the use of an old granary adjoining the Bourne Institute in West Street for this purpose and the offer was accepted. Money to finance the project had already started coming in with a donation of £5 from Dr James Burdwood, Medical Officer of Health to Bourne Rural District Council, an offer of £10 from Lord Ancaster and an annual subscription of £2 from Lady Ancaster.

It was therefore decided that the formation of the club should proceed and the following officers were appointed: the Earl of Ancaster (president), Lord Willoughby de Eresby MP, Dr Burdwood, Mr Robert Gardner and Mr C Everard (vice-presidents) and a committee consisting of Messrs S R Andrews, T M Baxter, C Christopher, F J Clarke, E E Cliffe, W Hall, C Overton, J T Pearce, C H Small and H Stubley. The honorary secretaries were Captain Bell and Mr McIver and the captains W Hall and C H Small.

The committee was delegated to draw up suitable rules and make arrangements for the running of miniature indoor and outdoor ranges for target practice. Forty members were enrolled during the evening and as the annual subscription was only one shilling and ammunition was to be provided free, it was expected that the membership would be large.

The range was ready within two months and an official opening by the Earl of Ancaster, accompanied by Lady Ancaster, was held on Wednesday 28th May 1902. A large number of members and friends attended and Captain Bell told them: "It is mainly through a suggestion by Lady Ancaster that this club has been started and it is chiefly due to their generosity that we now possess such an excellent indoor range."

Lord Ancaster said in his speech. "I am most satisfied that so many young men have joined the club. I consider that there is nothing more agreeable than to have a few shots at the target. The importance of such clubs must not be called into question. It is of the utmost importance that every man should understand how to handle a rifle. That is one of the lessons that this unfortunate war has taught us. Our main line of defence is of course the navy but it is essential that we should have a large and strong army on shore and I think that the establishment of rifle clubs will be the means of making the army profession more popular, especially in the towns. The nation will require a larger army in the future than it had in the past and I hope that sufficient volunteers will be forthcoming to abolish the idea of conscription or any form of compulsory service."

He then declared the range officially open and fired the first shot, followed by Lady Ancaster who scored a bull's eye.

A vote of thanks was proposed to her ladyship by Sergeant Hall and seconded by Mr C H Small, thanking her for her interest and assistance in the opening of the range and Lady Ancaster replied with the hope that some of the club members might win prizes at the Bisley shoot [venue in Surrey for the annual competition of the National Rifle Association since 1890]. She went on: "It is important that the nation should pay some attention to its defences and not be fully absorbed by its commercial undertakings, as the time of war will come."

Several other ladies and gentlemen among the guests afterwards tried their hand at firing on the range and during the proceedings, the band of H Company played musical selections in the grounds of the Institute which adjoined the range.

See also     William Hall      The Bourne Institute     

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