The Corn Exchange

The frontage of the old Corn Exchange in Abbey Road

The Corn Exchange was built in 1870 on the site of the old post office where Abbey Road approaches the market place. It is an unpretentious Victorian building of red brick and stone dressings and a blue slate roof but lacking the sober grace of the Georgian Town Hall just round the corner. The original building was designed as a public hall and corn exchange in what was then Church Street and cost £2,000, a sum that included the cost of the land and the fittings. It had a large hall in which the corn exchange was held with stage and retiring rooms and capable of seating 500 people and so it was also used for public meetings and musical entertainments.

It has since served the town well as a public hall and as a council chamber for Bourne Urban District Council following its formation in 1899 but long since swallowed up by South Kesteven District Council. It was also a popular venue for periodic exhibitions organised by the Chamber of Trade which did much to attract customers to the town's shops at a time when competition for retail trade from nearby towns and cities was becoming particularly acute.

The new building overlooking the market square and car park

In 1990, the Corn Exchange and its facilities were completely rebuilt, refurbished and enlarged on a much bigger site as part of a £900,000 project for the area although a stone tablet bearing the date 1870 and the town's coat of arms were incorporated in the wall of the new building which borders Abbey Road. The extensions at the rear of the property also created a new façade overlooking a new market square and car park. Although the red brick facings associated with Bourne have been retained in the design, the overall appearance has not found favour with many residents who fear that its ultra-modernism is far too ostentatious for this historic market town.

Apart from the main hall, the Corn Exchange also has a small reception area and a bar and has therefore become the major venue for social and business occasions in the town ranging from meetings of the Bourne Organ Club, regular productions by the local dramatic societies and the annual Civic Dinner and Ball, to blood donor sessions, a periodic farmers' market, displays and exhibitions. It is also hired out for family celebrations such as wedding receptions, birthdays and christenings.

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