The Town Hall

There has been a building in the market place at Bourne serving as a town hall for centuries and it was also the centre of the community and particularly for the dispensation of justice through the Petty and Quarter Sessions and the meetings of the various manorial courts that controlled land and property and heard grievances. The earliest reference to a town hall is in 1586 and can be found in an account of the town by the historian William Camden (1551-1623) in Britannia, his survey of the British Isles, which says: 

Bourne has four streets, and out streets from these. East to west is 1¼ miles and north to south ¾ of a mile. In the centre of the market place is an ancient town hall, said to have been built by the Wake family. The Cecil arms carved in basso-relief over the centre of the east front and this town hall was probably rebuilt by the Lord Treasurer, Burghleigh. 

William Cecil, the Elizabethan statesman and the first Lord Burghley, was born at a house in the market place, now the Burghley Arms, and although Burghley House near Stamford later became his principal residence, it is most likely that he remembered his birthplace by bestowing a new town hall. This building probably stood somewhere near the junction of South Street and West Street and underneath it would have been a shambles and stalls that formed part of the weekly market while the Petty and Quarter Sessions were held in the town hall itself, together with the court of the manor of Bourne of which the Lord was the Marquess of Exeter and both he and his ancestors had been accustomed to receive tolls from the market which also extended to the shops and stalls. 

By the early 19th century, the town hall had become dilapidated and a site occupied by a house adjoining the Bull Inn (now the Burghley Arms) on the east side of the market place was chosen for a new building but this too was to have a shambles or set of stalls underneath. The architect Bryan Browning, who later designed Folkingham goal in 1825, was asked to draw up the plans and he decided on an exterior staircase and recessed twin flights of steps within the front of the building that was to be constructed with Doric columns after the fashion of the Roman baths. 

The project would be financed with money raised through the county rate, from the sale of salvaged materials from the previous building on the site and from public subscription with contributions not only from Bourne but also from neighbouring parishes such as Market Deeping, Morton and Haconby, which between them eventually raised just under £1,400. A large painted board containing the names of the original subscribers and the amount they contributed is still on display in the main courtroom. An agreement to build the Town Hall was eventually drawn up between the magistrates and the project's organising committee and Bryan Browning's architectural practice, Woolcott and Browning, of 54 Doughty Street, Stamford.

In the event, the total cost was £1,640 plus £811 15s. 1d. for extras that had been decided after the original plans had been approved. These included increasing the height of the building by 2 ft., extending the hall by 6 ft., constructing the front staircase in Portland instead of York stone and increasing the size of the prisoners' room underneath the building from 9 ft. to 14 ft. The tower and the clock, however, were financed separately as a gift to the town by Mrs Eleanor Frances Pochin, widow of George Pochin, who was Lord of the Manor of Bourne Abbots for 37 years from 1761-98, shortly before she died on 16th July 1823 at the age of 76.

The Town Hall was duly opened in 1821 and was soon in frequent use, not only as a court house but for many other varied events and it appears that permission to hold these was frequently given by individual magistrates without resorting to any other authority. Damage had been caused on some occasions and on 3rd January 1842, the magistrates met under the chairmanship of William Augustus Johnson to regularise the position and they passed the following resolution:

The town hall has remained in use ever since and is relatively unchanged except that the shambles has disappeared although the market is still in the vicinity, occupying a purpose built precinct at the rear. 

The interior of the Town Hall was altered in 1974-75 and the new layout reduced the size of the main courtroom but it continues as the seat of justice in Bourne and the magistrates' court is held there weekly for summary jurisdiction with a public gallery for anyone who wishes to watch the proceedings. The court room is also used for regular meetings of the town council and there is an adjoining library or committee room where the magistrates adjourn to consider their decisions when necessary. 

An assessment of the use of the Town Hall as a courtroom was issued in January 2003 by Lincolnshire Magistrates Courts Committee:

• In 2001, the court sat for 330 hours compared to an average of 334 hours between 1993 and 1997.
• Fifty people attended court in September 1997, 79 in June 1998 and between January and March 2002, a total of 224 people attended.
• There are 23 Justices of the Peace on the Bourne and Stamford benches and four of the five categories of work - adult crime, youth crime, fine enforcement and family - are handled at Bourne.
• Annual running costs are £1,595. The average cost per sitting in the county is £35.48, at Bourne it is £6.17.
• While Lincolnshire County Council owns Bourne Town Hall, it is South Kesteven District Council which leases it and in turn allows the Magistrates Courts Committee to make use of the facilities on payment of a peppercorn rent.

A reception room area with a counter and access from the street has been added on the ground floor and used by South Kesteven District Council for the payment of the council tax and other public inquiries. The authority also has offices behind while those of the town council are upstairs at the back, overlooking the new market place. The courtroom was refurbished in the spring of 2004 at a cost of £90,000 and during the autumn, the exterior doors, woodwork and ironwork were also given a fresh coat of paint.

Painters at work refurbishing the ironwork, doors and woodwork at the
Town Hall in November 2004.

See also     The Town Hall in past times     The subscribers 

The Town Hall fire of 1933     The Town Hall Clock