The Old Grammar School

 A GRAMMAR SCHOOL has existed in Bourne since the Middle Ages and there are a number of references to the names of headmasters after 1580, either in the bishop's or the parish registers. One of these who was given permission to teach scholars within the parish of Bourne in 1625 was Edmund Lolley M A of Magdalene College, Oxford, who had already been Vicar of Bourne for 12 years. He died in 1632 and his will directed that his books and clothes should be sold for the benefit of his only son, also called Edmund, "to bring him up at the school". There was a rapid turnover in staff about this time and the names of seven different schoolmasters appear in the records during the first 30 years of the 17th century. 

A new and important phase in the arrangements for education in Bourne began in 1678 when William Trollope, a local landowner, left a bequest in 1636 which provided for an endowment of £30 a year to maintain "an honest, learned, and godly schoolmaster" in a free grammar school incorporated by royal charter and built by himself. The school was sited next to the Abbey Church where it still stands although the premises have been rebuilt since his day. His will, dated 16th November 1636, stipulated that it should be called "The Free Grammar School of King Charles in the town of Bourn and County of Lincoln, of the foundation of William Trollope, gentleman".

The present building has a brick superstructure over a solid stone foundation but it is not certain whether this stonework is from Trollope's original school or whether it dates even further back to the days when the monastery existed. Repairs and alterations were carried out from time to time, particularly in 1858 and again in 1876 when new outbuildings and two new end windows were added but the school finally closed in 1904 because of a decline in pupils.

There were several attempts to revive the school in subsequent years but it was never re-opened for its original purpose. It was eventually replaced by a secondary school that became the present grammar school in 1921. Two years later, in January 1923, the school was sold by the church for a nominal sum of £100 to the secondary school and the board of governors has administered the building ever since. It has largely been unused during that time although in the Second World War, the premises became an ambulance station and a meeting place for the Girl Guides.

The building has been badly neglected in recent years and in April 2003, it was condemned as unsafe and all entry forbidden. The roof was leaking and repairs were estimated at £20,000 and although some maintenance has been carried out since, the future of the property remains uncertain.

An illustrated history of the Old Grammar School can be found in A Portrait of Bourne

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