THE AREA AROUND Bourne covered by this survey is that defined by the combined index of maps showing the civil parishes and petty sessional divisions that existed for the Bourne area in Kesteven, one of the three parts of Lincolnshire as defined by the Ordnance Survey, before it disappeared during the reorganisation of local government that came into force on 1st April 1974. The web site contains a glimpse of Bourne as it is today with shorter descriptions of the surrounding villages that have close associations with the town.

THIS AREA includes the Aveland, Ness and parts of the Beltisloe wapentakes recorded in the Domesday Book, the great land survey of 1086 ordered by William the Conqueror in order to assess land tax and other dues, ascertain the value of the crown lands and enable the king to estimate the power of his vassal barons. The name Domesday is derived from the belief that its judgement was as final as that of doomsday. Wapentake is a Danish word equivalent to the word hundred that is used in other parts of the country to denote a subdivision of the county composed of groups of townships for the purpose of taxation.

THE NAME Kesteven has two elements, one the word for a wood and the second indicating a common meeting place. These elements are said to be respectively of British and Scandinavian origin. It was not the name of an early kingdom but part of Middle Anglia and its separate identity may well have come with the creation of the English shires, in existence by the early part of the 11th century.

Dominating the district are 400 acres of ancient woodland although this area was once much larger. The forest of Kesteven, as described in 1230, had boundaries running from Swaton along the Car Dyke to Market Deeping, then on to Spalding and to Bicker and back to Swaton, and the woodland at Bourne, also known today as Kesteven Forest, is most likely a surviving part of this forest. We know it today as Bourne Wood, an area of natural beauty and a favourite spot for visitors all year round.