- Bourne, Lincolnshire, England -

  ST PETER'S POOL IN PAST TIMES

  by Rex Needle

St Peter's Pool in 1900

PHOTOGRAPHS from a century ago show that St Peter's Pool was one of the most attractive spots in South Lincolnshire. That is no longer the case and there are several reasons why but the main one in recent years has been a lack of maintenance.

The pool is fed by seven underground springs and around it settled the Saxons, the Romans and the Danes, anxious for a convenient source of water, and soon the town we know today sprang up. Water however, is now a commodity marketed for commercial gain and in Bourne, our supplies are plundered daily by Anglian Water to provide other areas, with the result that the pool dries up in time of drought.

Water levels were therefore much higher before these prolific springs were tapped for domestic and business use and as a seemingly unending amount of water from underground springs is now piped into the public supply system, the Bourne Eau is often reduced to no more than a stream while the pool frequently becomes either clogged with algae or the reduced supply reveals a muddy bottom.

Low levels therefore, especially during the summer months, are a contributory factor to the poor appearance of the pool. Weeds sprout around the edges and there is little attempt to keep them down while the pool area is often full of debris, empty bottles, plastic bags, cans and other rubbish which creates a most unsightly appearance and is not good for the reputation of this town.

The bank needs reinforcing in several places while a dead tree alongside the weeping willows on the eastern side should have been felled and replaced some years ago. Routine maintenance is carried out to the surrounding Wellhead Gardens but the pool is largely neglected and left to deteriorate year after year and despite continual criticism from the public, nothing is done.

Recently, several Russian visitors were found staring in disbelief at the state of the site and when told of its antiquity they were dumfounded that it should be allowed to remain in such a ruinous state, a situation, they said, that would not be tolerated in their own country where historic places are treated with some reverence.

Then, last summer, the sorry appearance of the pool was highlighted by a photo feature in the Stamford Mercury which claimed that even the black swans that had been in residence since 1999 had deserted their favourite nesting place (28th July 2006). Several visitors were also highly critical of the rubbish that had been allowed to pile up and one of them, Diane Astley, aged 27, of Holloway Avenue, Bourne, echoed the opinion of many when she told the newspaper: “The pool is in an appalling state.”

The responsibility for St Peter's Pool lies with the trustees of Bourne United Charities which administers the Wellhead Gardens on behalf of the town. It is their decision whether or not work is to be carried out to improve the appearance of this ancient site.

The picture above, taken by William Redshaw in 1900, will give some idea of the scene a century ago while the photograph below of the river area around the pool, also taken circa 1900, is evidence of just how attractive and pleasant a place it was for a Sunday afternoon walk.

St Peter's Pool in 1900

 

IN ROMAN TIMES

THE SPRINGS known as St Peter's Pool are believed to be the site of a Roman encampment and various archaeological discoveries bear out this theory, together with its nearness to the Car Dyke and the King's branch of Ermine Street from Durobrivae [Castor, near Peterborough] to Sleaford. A century ago, Bourne schoolteacher and historian Joseph J Davies speculated on what life may have been like:

Assuming the truth of the tradition that this was the site of a Roman camp, it would be interesting to revive in the imagination Bourne life nearly 2,000 years ago with its martial music, its cohorts in garrison under the Bourne tribune; the draconarius uplifting the dragon standard; centurions lowering their vine saplings as the general, on his stately war-horse, rides slowly down the lines, the straps of the glittering cuirass decorated with phaleræ of jet. Across the parade ground we see a stern quadrangular fort, with towers at the angles. We might listen to the talk of the veterans, contrasting the land of wold and fen with their homes in sunny Italy. The vivacity and energy of the Roman are everywhere evident. The orderly tramp of troops, the clatter of chariots, the rumbling of traffic to north and south, keep the wide Ermine Street astir. Alive too, with business, are streets, now known as the West Street, the Abbey Road and the Austerby, with probably an intervening way, of which the short road from South Street to the vicarage gate is the remnant. From the camp, at intervals, comes the steady tramp of changing guards for the protection of the Car Dyke against the fierce Gervil of the Fenland. The watch along the forest belt, though vigilant, is easier as the Britons in the native woodland clearings are more in sympathy with the Roman rule of law and order. At the Car Dyke wharf, men are busy loading and unloading clay, building materials, the red brick and pottery of local manufacture, and arms, stores and supplies for the troops. We hear the virile guttural of the native speech, mingling with the sonorous roll of the Roman tongue. Thus is was for about 400 years.

Reproduced from Historic Bourne by J J Davies (1909)

NOTE: An illustrated history of St Peter's Pool and the responsibilities of Bourne
United Charities can be found on the CD-ROM A Portrait of Bourne

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