Bourne Eau House

The most charming private residence in the town must be Bourne Eau House, standing beside the river on the site of the old Abbey infirmary and overlooking Church Walk, a picture of peace and serenity from another age. The front of the house is in South Street, pictured above, but it is the rear prospect that attracts and visitors can often be seen capturing the view with their cameras and it must surely be one of the most frequently photographed properties in the district, also being Grade II listed. 

It is a complex building, or a series of joined structures in contrasting styles from different periods between the 16th and 20th centuries. There is a large stable and store block at the north end of the house, once containing old beer brewing vats, with grain lofts over. A large listed warehouse is joined to the house and this was once used for grain and seed distribution by the Wherry family and although now in separate ownership, both house and warehouse have been closely connected in past years and a careful look will reveal the architectural styles that link their relationship.

The warehouse and outbuildings at Bourne Eau House as seen from Church Walk. The entire complex was once the home and headquarters of Alderman William Wherry.

An elegant cast iron bridge over the Bourne Eau at the rear of the house in Church Walk connects the grounds with the church and two majestic swamp cypress trees once stood either side of the entrance but both have since been felled. The bridge bears the date 1832 and the initial "M" after the Mawby family who lived there until 1894 when it was bought by William Wherry, a county alderman and local businessman, who remained there with his family until he died in 1915. 

The house was then called The Cedars because of a large and stately cedar tree growing in the garden but it was blown down in a gale on 3rd January 1976 and when the property was sold three years later, the name was changed to Bourne Eau House. The new owner was an American, Mr J Douglas White, of Lincoln County, Mississippi, and latterly from California. He was an electronics designer with the Space Technology Laboratories in London and moved to Bourne to retire with his brother-in-law, Mr James Burrill, completing the purchase of the house in 1977. Both were also writers and featured their new home and a history of the town in an article for the local newspaper circulating in Lincoln County, USA.

The house had been neglected in previous years and extensive modernisation work was carried out before they moved in during 1979 but the new owners retained its period charm and the result is a pleasing mix without ostentation and retaining the red brick Georgian appearance that enhances so many of the historic buildings in the town. The property is now in the form of a cross with the original hall in the centre. The accommodation is extensive and may even be described as rambling as every step and turn reveals another surprise and more interest for the curious. The American ownership ended in the 1990s when the house was again sold.

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