The Austerby

A PROPERTY in the Austerby competes for the title of the oldest house in Bourne. The Old Bakehouse is a Tudor mansion almost in its original condition and was once part of the former residence of the Abbots of Bourne and reputedly constructed with stone from Bourne Castle. Part of the building was in more recent times used as a bakery and sales shop, hence its name today, but it retains a wealth of original style and fittings.

Little is recorded of life in the Abbey of Bourne during the four centuries of its existence but it is known that after its dissolution in 1536, the manor of Bourne Abbots passed into secular hands and eventually came into the possession of the Trollope family early in the 17th century. This gave them considerable land, farms and houses in Bourne, Cawthorpe and Dyke and this property may well have been among them.

The earliest known member of the family was Thomas Trollope who was living at Cawthorpe in 1543, a farmer who was improving his position and rising to the ranks of the gentry through trade. The Trollopes continued to prosper and purchased the manor of Casewick in 1621. Twenty years later Thomas’ great-grandson, also Thomas Trollope, became a baronet and in 1868, the seventh baronet was raised to the peerage as Lord Kesteven.

The most imposing property in the Austerby is the Manor House which stands at the junction with South Road in a prominent position on the southern approach road to the town, and has a prospect that is both elegant and spacious. It dates from the early 17th century but the frontage was Gothicized during Victorian times and in recent years it has been divided into two homes.

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