Bourne Civic Society columnist Anthony Jennings takes a closer look at the town

Perhaps you’re tired of Christmas shopping, or perhaps you’re like me and haven’t done any yet, writes Anthony Jennings of Bourne Civic Society.

Anyway, if you’re in Bourne town centre and helping our hard pressed town centre retailers rather than shopping online, as I hope you are, why not make it more enjoyable by taking the time to have a closer look at some of the buildings you pass by every day without even thinking about.

In previous articles I explained that the Bourne Neighbourhood Plan steering group was creating a list of buildings, structures and places in Bourne Parish nominated by the public as their favourites, called a list of local heritage assets, or a Local List for short.

The list, which includes Cawthorpe, Dyke and Twenty, is based on the formal public consultation which asked you to make your nominations and ended in November 2020.

It resulted in a total of 89, of which by far the most popular nomination was the former railway bridge, Bridge 234, but of course that has now had to be removed from the draft list for sadly obvious reasons.

It is a sobering thought that it might have been harder for the developer to get the go-ahead to demolish it if we had been able to get the list in place by the time of the decision.

Despite that, the consultation has been a very worthwhile exercise and has resulted in the identification of a fascinating selection of buildings and places.

I should remind you that one of the requirements for the list is that no building on it can be listed. Listed buildings don’t qualify for the purpose of creating a Local List because they already have separate statutory protection.

The Neighbourhood Plan steering group set up a subcommittee to independently assess the nominations received, to ensure they comply with the relevant criteria as laid down by Historic England.

The sub-committee, on which we at Bourne Civic Society are represented, first prepared a list of primary candidates, in other words those we thought to be the most important local assets. This numbered 39 and included such landmark structures and places as the Corn Exchange, the War Memorial and Bourne Eau, as well as a wide variety of buildings such as the former Tudor Cinema in North Street, the former BRM workshops and the West Road Almshouses.

We then prepared a list of secondary candidates which numbered 29 in total and included several of the best houses in North Road and West Road. After the whole process we think we have 64 buildings, three places or districts and one open space on the Local List.

After becoming part of the Neighbourhood Plan the list will have to be approved by South Kesteven District Council, and we hope that it will then also be adopted by the council as its own Local List as well. The council lacks one at present and all councils are strongly encouraged to create them.

A Local List is not just a list of the public’s favourite buildings and places but confers a degree of legal protection for planning purposes as well, so it is very useful to have.

So, as I say, while you’re in town shopping or just having a walk or even on your way to the pub, here’s a small selection of nominated buildings in the town centre which can easily be overlooked from the architectural viewpoint:

No. I North Street is a pleasingly simple building in a prominent position in the town centre which has 18th or early 19th century origins, with prominent quoins at its corners and a single conspicuous dormer.

This is where Charles Worth was first apprenticed before he decided the printing trade was definitely not for him.

I have a mid-19th century print that depicts this building as it was in those days with a shopfront of what seem to be engaged columns or pilasters with Ionic capitals and not the simple one that exists today, though this is still good and traditional.

Just across the road to the east, 9 and 11 Abbey Road is a very good example of a building in the local vernacular, that is to say a building by a local builder, without any pretension to style but reflecting the local manner and materials. It was illustrated in my article of February 19, 2021, and also in my book The Bourne Identity.

Have a look at it from the opposite side of Abbey Road and you can see the mansard roof and pantiles that would have been characteristic of most of the cottages and houses you would have seen if you had been in the townscape of Bourne in the 18th Century.

You’re viewing this building from the top of Church Walk where it abuts Abbey Road, so while you’re there, turn round and look at the stone rubble end wall of the outbuilding behind the Red Lion Inn, which is only a few paces away. This is a typically vernacular structure which strongly merits preservation.

From there it’s a very short walk back to South Street, and if you stand on the west side of the street just a little way down and look across to the east side, you’ll see a public toilet block.

Yes, this is a humble little building designed for an even humbler little function, but it’s a pleasing example of the architecture of the immediate post-war period and it retains a hint of the Arts and Crafts and Art Deco styles.

Note also that it carries the coat of arms of Bourne and the Wake family, and the initials BUDC, which stand for the former Bourne Urban District Council which no longer exists. The coat of arms is a simplified version because it lacks the wavy bend that represents Bourne’s waterways and below it the so-called Wake Knot. Perhaps it was thought modern to strip it down in this way.

That’s enough for now but I hope there will be more to come, and don’t forget that our book on the heritage of Bourne, The Bourne Identity, makes an ideal Christmas present and is available from Bourne Bookshop, or from the publisher, Shaun Tyas of Donington, or from the Heritage Centre at Baldock’s Mill, with all proceeds going to the Civic Society.

And as I’ve said before, the Civic Society is always looking for new members and volunteers, and we would love you to get in touch either via our website or by putting a note through the letter box at the mill or by phone on 01778 424740.By the very act of joining the society you make an important contribution to Bourne by showing your concern for its heritage.