The Vicarage

The vicarage

The new vicarage built in 1986 after much controversey

A vicarage or rectory from past centuries can be found in most towns and villages but few are still in use for their original purpose. The priests who lived there have mostly been housed in more modern accommodation, thankful to be rid of a large and often draughty building that was difficult to heat and costly to maintain. Similar parsonages around the country were sold by the Church of England and replaced by modern properties and so it was at Bourne where the last vicarage was simply too big. It was completed in 1879 but running costs rose annually and in 1969, part of the building was closed off as an economy measure because the heating bills at that time were swallowing up almost half of the vicar's annual stipend.

In 1983, the Lincoln Diocesan Trust and Board of Finance proposed to replace it with a modern vicarage and a planning application was submitted for permission to build it on the bowling green next to the Abbey Church, a site within the town's designated conservation area. But there were difficulties to be overcome because the green had been used by the Bourne Abbey Bowling Club since 1923 when it had been officially opened by a previous vicar, Canon John Grinter, and was still leased by the church to the club at a peppercorn rent of £8.50 a year.

The club's president at that time, Jimmy White, who had been a member for 21 years, said: "The green belongs to the church but it would be a tragedy if we lost it. The club currently has 60 members, a third of them old age pensioners, and so we may not only lose our club, but also the many friendships that have been built up over the years." He added that losing the land would mean searching for a new site and laying a new green that would cost them around £30,000.

There was also opposition from Bourne Civic Society and Bourne Town Council and so South Kesteven District Council refused the planning application on 27th April 1983 but the diocese appealed and a public inquiry was ordered. In the meantime, Bourne was without a vicar for six months until the appointment of the Rev John Warwick, rector of Long Sutton in Lincolnshire, in the autumn of 1983. The diocese therefore bought a spacious, four-bedroom house with gas central heating in the Austerby for £50,000 as a temporary home for the new vicar and his family until the future of the vicarage had been settled.

The public inquiry was held at Wake House in February 1984 under the chairmanship of a government inspector, Mr J M Steers, who was also a chartered architect, when counsel for the diocese, Mr Richard Phillips, outlined the difficulties the church faced with the old vicarage. "It is too large", he said, "being well over twice the size recommended by the Church Commissioners. "It is far too costly for a vicar's stipend and it is beyond him to employ a full time gardener. Construction of the house makes modernisation impossible and the necessity to replace the building has been recognised since 1950." The vicar's stipend at that time was £6,450 a year but annual heating costs alone were £3,000 compared with £497 for a modern four-bedroom house.

Even the Bishop of Grantham, the Rt Rev Dennis Hawker, was in favour of the new site. He told the inquiry: "It is essential that the incumbent should live in close proximity to the Abbey, not only to facilitate easy access but also to keep an eye on the security of the church building. The incumbent should also be given adequate privacy to enable parishioners to call at the vicarage out of the public gaze. I consider this to be an important pastoral requirement."

The old vicarage, completed in 1879, but too costly to maintain on a parson's stipend. It is now used as a home for elderly people.

But South Kesteven District Council was adamant that the new vicarage would damage the setting of the church that was the town's only Grade I listed building. Their assistant planning officer, Mr Graham Oxborough, said that the bowling green made an important contribution to the existing amenities and facilities of the town. "The site is separated from Church Lane by a high wall", he said, "but it is nevertheless considered that the building of a dwelling house on this land would seriously detract from the character and visual amenities of this part of the conservation area and from the setting of the very important listed building."

The church's argument won the day and in June 1984, the inspector ruled in their favour that a new vicarage could be built on the site. He said that it would not adversely affect the character of the conservation area provided the building was sensitively designed and he added: "I suggest that the new vicarage should be made either of stone or second-hand red bricks with second-hand pantiles or slates on the roof so that it harmonises with other buildings in the neighbourhood." He also stipulated that facilities should be provided for an archaeological investigation of the site as work got underway.

Excavations near the church in 1985
Photo: Courtesy Don Fisher

The dig was carried out in August 1985 under the direction of Miss Christine Mahany, Director of the Trust for Lincolnshire Archaeology, and archaeologist Jim Hunter, together with a band of local people who had volunteered to help with the excavations. It was a modest operation but portions of the old abbey, founded in 1138, were soon discovered together with the foundations of the Abbey House which had been demolished in 1877-78. Among the volunteers was Councillor Don Fisher who is seen here at the scene of the excavations with a stone head, perhaps a gargoyle, which was found on the site.

The new vicarage was built in 1986 in a combination of the materials suggested by the inspector, red brick with ashlar quoins and pantiles on the roof, and now that it has been standing for sixteen years it is hard to understand what the fuss was all about apart from the loss of the green to the bowling club which was eventually wound up in July 1986 when its funds were divided between local community groups and its 67 members joined other clubs in the area, including the bowling club at the Abbey Lawn.

Meanwhile, the old vicarage survives nearby and is still in useful service as The Cedars, a residential care home for the elderly. It was named after the five cedar trees growing in the 1½ acres of grounds and was officially opened after extensive refurbishment in February 1987 by Canon Gordon Lanham and his wife Josephine who had lived there when he was Vicar of Bourne from 1970-84. During the work, builders found information about another former resident because a letter from Jenny Neesham, a 15-year-old girl who had lived there 20 years before, was discovered tucked away behind a brick in the attic giving details of her family and a description of how she looked at the time. The building was also modernised and greatly extended during 2000.