Bourne celebrates bicentenary of Charles Frederick Worth at the Red Hall, Wake House and Bourne Abbey Church

After many months of planning, a town will get together to celebrate one of its most notable sons this weekend.

Several groups in Bourne are laying on free activities and events for Worth 200 - to celebrate the bicentenary of world-famous fashion designer Charles Frederick Worth who was born in the town on October 13, 1825.

Events will take place in his childhood home and birthplace, Wake House, as well as at the Red Hall, and Bourne Abbey Church Hall.

The Aveland History Group is holding a second day of free fashion lectures dedicated to the Father of Haute Couture at the church hall on Saturday.

Doors open at 10am with seating on a first-come, first-served basis. The first talk, a History of the Corset is at 10.30am by Gillian Proctor, Associate Professor at De Montfort University.

She is followed by an international expert in embroidery, and then two authors who have written works involving the House of Worth.

There is also a full weekend of free events in the Red Hall.

Students from the University of Lincoln will exhibit their Worth-inspired Fuchsine Collection, both on static mannequins and, on Saturday at 2.15pm and 3.15pm, on live catwalk models.

Interspersed with this, Stamford Shoestring will perform a show from 1pm, titled Victorians and their Nanty Narks.

On Sunday, families are encouraged to take part in a range of crafts.

There will also be more from Stamford Shoestring as well as a Victorian tea dance with Grantham Danserye, and a Poetic Worth session co-ordinated by Bourne Old Town Hall and curated by Stamford Poet Laureate, Ross Ayres.

And all weekend, the Red Hall will be taken back to its former life as a ticket office to Bourne Railway Station, with the British railways also sharing a bicentenary this year.

All activities are free and do not need to be booked apart from the children's papercraft workshop. Tickets from https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/whats-on/bourne/the-red-hall/worth-200-workshop-free-families-papercraft-for-children-aged-8/2025-10-12/11:30/t-ojgaxyr

Over at Wake House, Bourne Arts and Community Trust is hosting a diverse programme.

It includes tours of the building and a free talk on Worth’s history by an author who has recently published a book on the high-end designer.

Other expert speakers include descendants of Worth’s family and a member of the Costume Society, and there are plans to display one of his dresses.

Bourne History Group will also transport visitors back to Victorian England.

Other activities will include workshops, displays and a film about the man himself by Rob Pitman.

For more information, booking and full timetable, visit https://www.wakehouse.org.uk/events