The word cemetery comes from the Greek koimeterion, meaning a dormitory or place to sleep, while the Persians called their cemeteries "the Cities of the Silent". The name was originally given to the underground burial places of the Romans who generally placed their tombs alongside public roads. In early times, Christians held their religious ceremonies in cemeteries and this started the practice of consecrating the ground to be used for the dead. The burial ground in most parishes is the churchyard unless closed to further interments and so alternative land is made available.

Church graveyards were becoming overcrowded by the mid-19th century. Interments took place on top of one another in many places, sometimes two and three times, and the Burial Act of 1855 was passed by Parliament sanctioning burials outside churchyards and so the cemeteries we know today came into being while the Cremation Act of 1902 was passed to regulate the burial of ashes.  In Bourne, where there was a similar situation, burials in the churchyard of the Abbey Church ended in 1855 with the opening of the town cemetery in South Road. 

By the early 19th century there was also some public disquiet about the use of land within populated areas, such as churchyards, for burials because of a possible risk to health through contamination and in 1841 a Bourne clergyman, the Rev James Peggs, minister of the Baptist Church in West Street, added to the debate by challenging the practice. He wrote a leaflet which was published both in London and in Bourne by William Daniell, printer and bookseller with premises in the Market Place, entitled A Cry from the Tombs: or Facts and Observations on the Impropriety of Burying the Dead among the Living, in which he detailed several horrific cases in which people had been infected after coming into contact with the remains of corpses after they had been buried.

The publication was subsequently reviewed by the Stamford Mercury on February 5th that year when the newspaper reported: "Without pledging ourselves to the accuracy of all the facts and reasonings in this pamphlet, we candidly acknowledge that we hope the time is fast approaching when the public health will no longer be injured by the interment of myriads of dead bodies amidst the busy hum of men".

Following the introduction of the Burial Act of 1855, new cemeteries were soon springing up throughout the country and most were being built on land outside the towns and villages. The newly-formed Bourne Burial Board followed suit, having purchased four acres of land in South Road, well outside the town, for £420 from Sir Philip Duncombe Pauncefort Duncombe in 1854 to establish the town's new cemetery. A condition of sale was that the board would erect "a good and substantial stone wall" round the three sides of the cemetery which were contiguous to other land owned by Sir Philip, "such wall to be of the height of five feet above the level of the ground, and of a strength in proportion thereto, to the satisfaction of the said Sir Philip Duncombe Pauncefort Duncombe, his heirs and assigns". This wall was sturdily built of red brick and still stands today. There were also two chapels, one for the established church and a second for other denominations in the town and a stone lodge for the cemetery or ground keeper and his family. A clerk was appointed at a salary of 15s. a week and keeper who was paid £2 10s. a week plus accommodation. Messrs William Emmitt and Henry Torkington were appointed auditors to the Burial Board at a salary of one guinea each per annum.

The cemetery was opened in 1855 and stone markers bearing that date were erected around the boundaries of the site, the total cost of development including the chapel building being £2,000 which was levied in rates upon parishioners by the burial board. The consecration was originally planned for March that year but was deferred because a fence had not been erected on the eastern boundary, but this work was eventually completed and the ceremony was performed by the Bishop of Lincoln on Saturday 26th May, as reported by the Stamford Mercury the following Friday:

The Order in Council for the closing of the several burial grounds in Bourn comes into operation today [1st June 1855] and that portion of the new cemetery allotted to the interment of persons in connection with the Established Church was consecrated by the Bishop of Lincoln on Saturday last. His Lordship arrived shortly after 2 o'clock at the residence of the Rev J Dodsworth (the chairman of the Burial Board) and at three, attended divine service at the church, conducted by the Vicar. The registrar read the petition of the Burial Board for the act of consecration to which the Bishop gave his consent. The Psalms specially appointed for the occasion were the 39th and the 90th, and the lessons were taken from Genesis 23, and 1 Thes. 4th c. from the 13th verse, all being applicable to the termination of the span of human life, and the provision of a burial place for the dead. At the close of the service, the Bishop was conveyed in a carriage to the cemetery, wither the clergy, the churchwardens and the Burial Board had preceded him. After a short consultation in the lodge between the Bishop and the Board, his Lordship and the escort perambulated the boundary of the ground (reading the 49th and 115th Psalms), and thence to the episcopal chapel. His Lordship having taken his seat, the chairman of the Burial Board presented the instrument of donation, and the sentence of consecration having been read, the Bishop signed it and ordered it to be registered. These formalities concluded, his Lordship read an exhortation and four appropriate prayers, which were succeeded by part of the 39th Psalm, led by the church choir, and the service was terminated by the Bishop dismissing the congregation with the blessing. There was a very large attendance, including most of the neighbouring clergy and all the dissenting ministers of the town, and the site and buildings underwent the criticism of the spectators. The entrance gates are not yet finished and some other matters are in the course of completion. The sunk fence wall, on the east of the cemetery, for which the consecration had been deferred, is a great improvement. The chapels are somewhat similar to those at Stamford and are nearly alike in the interior; they are floored with Minton, Staffordshire, tiles, and have stained deal roofs but the impact or string-course under the plate of the roof is plain in the dissenters' chapel while that in the episcopal chapel is inscribed in illuminated letters with the sentences: "Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord" &c; "O death where is thy sting?"; "Oh grave where is thy victory?"; "I know that my redeemer liveth." &c.

The first interment was carried out in the summer of 1855 when the vicar, the Rev Joseph Dodsworth, recorded in the burial register: “The first Funeral in the New Burial Grounds” and the name "Mary Farrer, aged 54 years, on 3rd June". This may not have been correct because the cemetery records state that the first person to be interred was Mary Farrow, aged 59, a farmer's wife, from Eastgate, on 3rd June 1855. Neither of the names Farrer or Farrow appear in the Bourne street directories of the period and so it is impossible to say which is correct.

In 1904, the cemetery was extended up to 5½ acres and in 1999 when land for further burial plots was exhausted, a further two acres were added beyond the brick wall and this is known today as the new cemetery. 

By the end of the century, there were around 70 burials at the cemetery each year although this number was beginning to decline because people were living longer, mainly due to improved health and living conditions. The Stamford Mercury reported on Friday 28th January 1898 that in the previous four weeks, there  had been seven interments, the youngest being 73 years of age and the oldest 85, and so the average age was 80½ years. The report added: "Since the cemetery was opened in 1855, the average yearly burials has been 73. From 1855 to 1877, the average number of burials was 76. For the past 20 years, the average annual interments has been 69, although during the same period, the population has considerably increased. There were 53 interments in 1897."

Ornamental iron railings in black and gold have been added to the low stone wall fronting the road but the chapel building for pre-burial services is no longer used for its original purpose. Fashions have changed. Whereas funerals often took place at the cemetery when the chapel were frequently in demand, they are now held in church or crematorium, and so it fell into disuse and is now closed to the public although it has been used as an office for the cemetery supervisor and since the summer of 2001, a suitable place to stack the Christmas lights and to store machinery, lawnmowers and other equipment. There was also a stone built lodge at the entrance but this was demolished around 1960 and a modern bungalow built on the site for the cemetery supervisor although in recent years it has been used as an office and rest room for cemetery staff.

The remains of 10,000 people are now buried in the cemetery which is administered by Bourne Town Council and is open every day from sunrise to sunset. The majority of the great and the good from the town and surrounding area who have since died are buried here and the graveyard contains an interesting mix of headstones and memorials, the early ones in stone and slate while black, white, red and grey marble and polished granite predominate for later burials. There is also a rose garden and a garden of remembrance for those who were cremated together with a large number of memorial seats, rose bushes, trees and shrubs marked with dedication plaques while the paths that crisscross the grounds are lined with well trimmed holly and yew trees and an occasional conifer with laurels around the boundary. 

A Garden of Remembrance for the fallen was also opened on a grassy space near to the South Road entrance in November 1976 when the vicar, Canon John Warwick conducted a short service. The Mayor, Councillor Ray Cliffe, planted the first cross and the cemetery keeper, John Bushell, laid a wreath on behalf of Ancien Combatant, the French equivalent of the Royal British Legion. The ceremony has been observed on Remembrance Day every year since in memory of those who fell during the two world wars and subsequent conflicts.

In 2012, plans were announced to extend the cemetery by a further 2.2 acres. The land behind the houses at Nos 41 and 45 South Road was allocated for housing and owned by the developer Kier Homes who were building the nearby Elsea Park estate although planning permission had not yet been given. The town council therefore applied to South Kesteven District Council for a change of use for further burial plots and 14 car parking spaces which was granted on Tuesday 26th June 2012.

"An extension is needed for the cemetery because there was limited usage left", explained Mrs Nelly Jacobs, clerk to Bourne Town Council. "When what we had left runs out, burials will have to go elsewhere and that is not acceptable to local people. There is no guarantee that we will get this land but the granting of planning permission will give the council additional leverage in our negotiations with the owner."

The land was also deemed to be unsuitable for burials because the level and soil conditions were unsuitable but in 2015, Keir Homes made the generous donation of land together with soil and labour to bring the site up to the required standard and the work was completed later that year.

Mrs Jacobs explained that the site was low-lying meadowland which often became waterlogged and was therefore quite unsuitable for burials. An alternative system of stacking coffins within a solid frame structure up to four at a time in one plot similar to that use elsewhere in the country, specifically at Walsall Burial Park in Staffordshire, was considered in 2013 as an alternative space-saving design but rejected by the council as being too costly.

Keir Homes therefore offered to raise the level of the land by two feet which would enable the cemetery be expanded for future use and allow burials to be carried out without any further problems once the site has settled. “This has extended the life of the cemetery by at least another ten years”, said Mrs Jacobs. “The land would not have been usable but re-setting the level has made a dramatic difference and the work completed by Keir has also saved the council a great deal of expense for levelling and seeding.”

PHOTO ALBUM
The brick wall from 1854 and two of the stone boundary markers.
The chapel of rest, built in 1854-55, and listed Grade II in 2007
The original stone lodge was demolished in 1960 and replaced by a bungalow but residential use ended soon after the chapel was closed and from 2006 it has been used as a staff office and rest room.

In past time, coffins were carried from church to cemetery by coach or cart and from the gate to the graveside by the parish bier. Few have survived and it is only by chance that the Bourne bier has been preserved. It dates back to Victorian times and is made of cast iron and wood but was in a poor state when the cemetery staff found it abandoned in a corner of the grounds in 2004 and recognised its previous use. They carried out some restoration before giving it a place of prominence at the entrance to the cemetery where it is now used for floral displays during the summer months.
Tombstones in the main cemetery (above) and (below) the new section which opened in 1999 and the row of commemorative rose trees.
THE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE
A Garden of Remembrance to remember our war dead every November was begun in 1976 on a grassy space near the main gates and by tradition the mayor attends a short civic service there each year with members of the Royal British Legion (Bourne branch). In 1996, the Mayor of Bourne, Councillor John Smith (right), observed the tradition by planting the first poppy cross with George Barber, branch chairman, with other officials in attendance. In 2000, the ceremony was carried out on Saturday 4th November by Councillor John Kirkman, who was then the Mayor of Bourne (see picture below).  In the pictures: Above - Councillor Don Fisher, Canon John Warwick, Mrs Connie Bates,  Bert Johns and John Seymour (Royal Naval Association), Don Saunders, Andrew Manson, Colonel John Thompson and Eddie Horn  (Bourne branch, Royal British Legion) and Lieutenant Mark Sawyer (Bourne Salvation Army. Below - Bert Johns (bearing the Royal Navy Association standard), Tony Goodwin BEM (vice-chairman of the Legion's Lincolnshire branch), Mrs Connie Bates, Councillors Marjorie Clark and Don Fisher, John Kirkman, Mrs Jean Kirkman (the mayoress), Canon Warwick,  Councillors Shirley Cliffe and Alan Jones, and Mike Midgley, the Legion standard bearer. See The British Legion at the Garden of Remembrance

One of the oldest families to be buried in the cemetery is William Mays (1794-1889) and his descendants and whose line ended with the motor racing pioneer Raymond Mays (1899-1980) who did not marry. Four headstones stand together to remember this business dynasty through three generations but Raymond, the most famous of them all, is not with them. He was cremated after his death in 1980 and his ashes were not preserved. 

Among the graves that can be found here are those of property owner John Lely Ostler (1811-1859), one of the town's Victorian benefactors in whose honour the Ostler memorial fountain was erected in the market place a year after his death but has since been moved into the cemetery because it was causing traffic problems, and the two men responsible for the town's aerated water industry during the 19th century, Robert Mason Mills (1819-1904) and his son-in-law Thomas Moore Baxter (1854-1920), lying side by side with their respective wives, united in death as they were in their business life. Nearby is the grave of a prominent member of a local 19th century family of land owners John Hurn Dove who died in 1860 at the age of 71 while in the adjoining plot are his two sisters Sarah, aged 69, and Harriett, aged 71, who died within four days of each other six years later. 

The graves of the Mays family (left) and of Sir Maurice Heath (right) whose remains 
are buried with the Gibsons and their daughter.

A more recent burial is the ashes of Air Marshal Sir Maurice Heath KB E, CB, CV O, (1909-1998), former Chief of Staff, Allied Air Forces, Central Europe. He had also distinguished himself in the late 1950s after his appointment as chief of British Forces in the Arabian peninsular, a new command directly responsible to Whitehall when he was involved in the aftermath of the Iraqi revolution and the murder of the country's young King Faisal. Heath had been born in London and married Mary Gibson, daughter of local corn merchant Richard Boaler Gibson and his wife Frances, in 1938 after meeting her at a dance at RAF Wittering. Lady Heath died in July 1988 and is also buried in the grave in Bourne cemetery as are her parents. 

A survey of the graves in the cemetery was carried out by the Bourne branch of the Lincolnshire Family History Society and the results published in 1997 provide an interesting insight into those who are buried here.

The wording on many of the stone memorials, especially those from the 19th century, has been eroded by wind and weather but a local record of those who are buried here is kept in the cemetery office while a more detailed compilation exists at the offices of the Town Council and on computer at the county records office in Lincoln. A photograph from 1900 shows their pristine condition when all were less than 50 years old and so today, we are able to compare what they were like when first erected. Another example was uncovered in October 2002 after a burial in the older part of the cemetery. A headstone on an adjoining plot had toppled many years before and was lying on its face and this detracted from the appearance of the new grave and so relatives asked if it could be restored to give the spot a more respectable appearance. It was a hard task because these old stone memorials are extremely heavy but cemetery staff managed to lift it and place it back in its original position but they made a startling discovery when the front was revealed because it looked as good as new.

The memorial had been made in 1889 by Atton and Sons, stonemasons of Station Street, Spalding, for a local man who had died that year. However, there may have been a fault in the stone because in the subsequent years, it cracked near the base and toppled over, leaving the engraved side face down on the earth. This probably occurred fifty years ago, perhaps even longer, because the back of the memorial that has been exposed to the elements, is now eroded and covered with lichen but the front when lifted was as sharp and as clear as the day it had been carved. The inscription reads: "In affectionate remembrance of Eliza, the beloved wife of John Collins, who fell asleep December 23rd 1889 in her 52nd year. Peace perfect peace. Also of John Collins, husband of the above, who passed away January 6th 1908 in his 75th year. At rest."

Imagine what it would be like for social historians and descendants researching their family trees if they were able to read every tombstone with such clarity! Stone is now rarely used for memorials and black marble has become the favoured material because it does seem to be more durable. They look good and are easy to read and it is to be hoped that they will survive the years much better than their stone predecessors.

REVISED MAY 2014

See also

     The cemetery chapel     Epitaphs      John Peacock     Unmarked graves

A sad discovery     Hunting down Mr Mole     A cemetery for all seasons