The Angel Hotel

 

 

There has never been a shortage of inns in Bourne, most of them built during the 19th century to cater for a rising population and trade boom although some were already well established when the century began. 

 

The Angel Hotel in the town centre dates from the 18th century and was originally known as the Nag's Head but the name was changed around 1800. It is probably the oldest surviving hotel for guests in the town and was an important posting house during coaching days. The town had the advantage of being on one of the main routes from Lincoln and York to London and a daily coach service passed through Bourne, often making an overnight stop and usually picking up passengers. 

 

There was also a mail coach and a wagon service for heavy goods and carriers also operated local services to surrounding towns. By 1857, an omnibus left the Angel Hotel every morning, except Sundays, at 8 a m to connect with the railway station at Tallington on the Great Northern line. The livery stables at the rear of the building were eventually incorporated into the main hotel and by 1900 it boasted fifteen bedrooms and a banqueting room that could accommodate 150 people. 

 

During the 19th century, beer sold at the hotel was produced by a small brewery attached to the rear of the premises and on the morning of Sunday 7th August 1892, fire broke out at the premises soon after 7 a m. The fire brigade were quickly on the scene and managed to bring the flames under control with the help of the landlord, Mr Arthur Bott and members of the hotel staff, pumping water from a tank at the top of the brewery which was used for beer production. Their prompt action stopped the flames from spreading to the entire block of buildings, including the Masonic rooms and adjoining properties in the Market Place. The fire is believed to have been caused by embers raked out from the brewery's copper boiler the previous evening which fell into a pile of nearby coal and eventually burst into flames.

 

The courtyard and outbuildings can still be seen together with an ostler's bell and there is a pattern of small gables across the coaching arch while outside on the main road, the town pump was strategically placed to provide for the needs of the coach horses which stopped here. Apart from its function as a hotel, the Angel was also registered as an Excise Office from 1808 onwards where makers of a wide range of goods were required to pay their necessary duties. 

 

In 1862, the Assembly Rooms were erected in the courtyard at the rear of the hotel in matching red brick and blue slate by the landlord, Henry Bott, and the date and his initials appear on a stone plaque at the front. The new facility was widely used for a wide range of social events, dances and parties, and as the meeting hall for many local organisations, including the Hereward Lodge of Freemasons (No 1232) which was formed there in 1868. The rooms were known in more recent years as the Copperfield Suite and used for public functions and wedding receptions.

 

The ostler's bell in the yard at the Angel Hotel (left) and the shopping precinct with its dubious domes (right).

 

In the summer of 1985, the long-disused outbuildings and stables at the rear of the hotel were converted into a new shopping centre called the Angel Walk. Seven shops were included in the arcade with three glazed domes built into the roof to provide light and although the conversion scheme blended with the atmosphere of the old coaching inn, the appearance of these domes did not meet with universal approval. Then in December 2001, the hotel owners decided to repaint the exterior and replaced the traditional black and white woodwork in the window frames and surrounds with green and cream that many people felt looked quite incongruous. The change of colour was subsequently challenged by South Kesteven District Council because planning permission had not been obtained and the property is a Grade II listed building within the conservation area. The owners were subsequently ordered to restore the original colours and despite some early opposition to the ruling, the repainting was carried out in the spring of 2003 when the original black and white livery was restored.

 

A major change in the status of the hotel came in 2005 when the ownership changed hands and it was closed down for several months to enable major refurbishment take place at a cost of £500,000. The work included the addition of a new restaurant to seat 90 people, a separate bar, 12 luxury bedrooms and a 120-seater function room, making it the flagship hotel for the company, Franchitti Inns. The new owner is Nick Frankgate, aged 53, who has extensive experience in the hotel and catering trade.

 

See also Nick Frankgate

 

Painting the hotel in 2005

The £500,000 refurbishment carried out between February and August 2005 completely transformed the hotel interior while a long mechanical arm was used to give the distinctive frontage a coat of special weather-proof paint (above), the best on the market and the same used for the front door at No 10 Downing Street. A civic opening was held on Tuesday 23rd August when Mayor of Bourne, Councillor Judy Smith, and selected guests, arrived aboard an 1832 stagecoach (below) for a champagne reception, a reminder of the hotel's connection with road travel from years past.

Stagecoach opening in August 2005
Photo: Courtesy Jim Jones

  

THE ANGEL HOTEL IN PAST TIMES

The short-lived green and cream livery, removed in 2003.

The Angel Hotel circa 1890. The water pump, erected during the 18th century, can be seen on the pavement to the left while the coaching arch leading to the stables behind was still in use, for these were the days before the motor car had phased out horse-drawn transport. The hotel was also used as a posting house, a regular stopping place for coaches plying between Peterborough and Lincoln and even further beyond.

 

PAST LANDLORDS OF THE ANGEL HOTEL

The longest serving landlord of the Angel Hotel was HENRY BOTT who presided as mine host for 50 years during the middle years of the 19th century although his family was associated with the business for almost 100 years, from 1807 until 1899. 
See Henry Bott

A retired army officer, Veterinary-Major William Walls TOWNSON, took over the hotel in October 1901 but he died suddenly on Monday 21st July 1902, at the age of 57, under somewhat painful and sudden circumstances. He had gone to Liverpool, his home town, the previous Friday to attend to some business matters, when he was taken ill and died. His body was brought back to Bourne the following Wednesday and the funeral cortege accompanying the coffin proceeded direct from the railway station to the town cemetery where he was buried. His wife, Mrs ANNIE TOWNSON, took over and ran the hotel until 1916. The hotel under her ownership became a central point for the social life of the town and a guidebook entry of 1910 describes it thus: "The Angel at Bourne is a very ancient hostelry. As a hotel for guests it can claim to be the oldest in the town. It has been added to as occasion has required. In by-gone times, it was a famous posting house, and livery stables are now an important part of the hotel business. Throughout the hotel there will be found fine specimens of old oak, and several pictures of note, including landscapes by Crome, Herring etc. The accommodation consists of fifteen bedrooms, smoke-room, commercial, coffee, and private sitting-rooms, and a large banqueting-room, where 150 persons can sit down, and which is well adapted for balls. The Hereward Masonic Lodge holds its meetings in this room. Various rent audit dinners and other functions are held at the Angel. Every attention is paid to the comfort of guests, and the cuisine leaves nothing to be desired. At 1.30 on Thursdays a very popular market dinner is served. Head-quarters of the Royal Automobile Club, the Motor Union, the AA and the CTC. The proprietress is Mrs Townson, who has conducted the Angel for the past seven years. She is the widow of the late Vet-Major W W Townson of Liverpool. Tel No 25."

During the last century, the hotel was owned by Trust Houses and the company used it as a proving ground for new managers, enabling them to gain experience of the trade, and among them were Saul and Amy Adcock (1937-42).

 

See also Frederick Nash - landlord from 1916 to 1926

 

REVISED AUGUST 2005

 

See also Inns & other hostelries     Early days on the road   

 

  

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