Bourne, Lincolnshire

The ancient woodland of Bourne Woods is still extant, although much reduced. It originally formed part of the ancient Forest of Kesteven and is now managed by the Forestry Commission. The earliest documentary reference to Brunna, meaning stream, is from a document of 960, and the town appeared in Domesday Book of 1086 as Brune. Bourne was an important junction on the Victorian railway system, but all such connections were severed after the Second World War (see Railways section). The business stimulus it brought caused major development of the town and many of the buildings around the medieval street plan were rebuilt or at least refaced. Improved communications allowed a bottled-water…

The town is located on a Roman road now known as King Street. It was built around some natural springs, hence the name "Bourne" (or "Bourn"). which derives from the Anglo-Saxon burna or burne meaning "water" or "stream". In former years Austerby was regarded as a separate settlement, with its own shops and street plan, but it is now an area of Bourne. The ecclesiastical parish of Bourne is part of the Beltisloe Deanery of the Diocese of Lincoln and based at the Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul, in Church Walk. Other religious congregations in the town include Methodist, Baptist, United Reformed and a Roman Catholic church (St. Gilbert's Catholic Church). Much of Bourne's 19th-century…