The water levels along the Bourne Eau and in St Peter's Pool were much higher in the years before these prolific springs were tapped for commercial purposes and now supply a wide catchment area as far as Peterborough. The pool has been a feature of this town since the earliest times and still produces a seemingly unending amount of water from underground springs that is now piped into the public supply system. The result is that the river is often no more than a stream and the pool frequently clogged with algae. The picture above, taken by William Redshaw in 1900, will give some idea of the scene here before extraction began on such a large scale. 
There has been a great deal of criticism in recent years about the algae and rubbish that have turned St Peter's Pool into an eyesore and no effort has been made to keep the water clean or cut the weeds around the edge. The picture below of the river area around the pool, taken circa 1900, is evidence that this was once an attractive and pleasant place for a Sunday afternoon walk.

The Wellhead Cottage can be seen without the hedge that now hides it in the picture below from circa 1970 while the south bank of the pool is graced by a line of weeping willows. The pool is now however surrounded by formalised parkland, the Wellhead Gardens, that were established by Bourne United Charities in the years after the Second World War (1939-45) and which has become one of the town's most valuable amenities.