The Wishing Well

The Wishing Well

Photographed 2005

It is believed that there were originally four public houses in Dyke but actual records indicate that there may have been only two. The Plough was originally situated in a cottage adjoining the former Methodist chapel at No 63 Main Street and owned by William Morton, later Henry Cumberworth. The tavern was in existence in the early years of the 19th century and underwent some changes with a grand re-opening in July 1849 but had closed by 1860.

The other is the present Wishing Well, also in Main Street, and modelled on the original and more modest building from the early 18th century which was probably used as beer house before becoming The Crown a century later.

But trade dwindled and the public house closed in 1965 and the property was later purchased by Mr David Owen, licensee of the Angel Hotel in Bourne, who decided to recreate it as a traditional old English inn. In the subsequent months, he practically rebuilt the premises from ground level, stripping the old building and replacing it with an oak-beamed, stone-walled house with some 2,100 sq ft of floor space. The kitchen which was once a butcher's shop was retained but the front facade was given a 17th century look with timbers angled in the Elizabethan way. Traces of thatching work carried out in 1734 still existed under tiles in one part of the roof and a bread oven was discovered purely by chance when a wall was removed and the cobwebs of 300 years swept away.

Mr Owen, who did most of the conversion work himself, also found a well during the rebuilding, having an internal diameter of 2 ft and a depth of 20 ft, and rising 4 ft above ground level, and he decided to retain it as a feature and so he named the new hostelry the Wishing Well when it first opened for business on Thursday 19th April 1973. The well subsequently provided a touch of magic for the very young and the small daughter of one regular visitor tossed a penny into the depths on every visit, closed her eyes and wished for a kitten, a wish that was eventually granted. The Wishing Well has since become one of the most popular hostelries in the Bourne area, especially at weekends, and in 2002, the business changed hands for £1 million.

THE WISHING WELL IN PAST TIMES

Postcard courtesy Brian Lawrance

The Wishing Well opened in 1973 and was previously known as The Crown which can be seen past the crossing gates second from the right in the postcard photograph pictured above. The card is dated 1904 and there is some writing on the back suggesting that it was called The Oak which is incorrect and was probably a mistake on the part of the sender.
The building was first mentioned in 1729 as "a cottage built in or on a toft with one acre of land" belonging to the Manor of Bourne and later turned into a public house known as The Crown, the earliest reference to its new role being in 1856 when the landlord was John Makings followed by George Burrows (1872). In 1879, the public house was purchased by Melbourn's Brewery and subsequent landlords included Joseph Bullimore (1882-1905), Walter Reed (1913-26), Ernest Higgs (1930), George Gout (1933) and Joseph Clare (1937).

Photographed in 2006

The ivy was removed from the front of the Wishing Well in 2006 during a programme of renovation which revealed the original red brick walls (above) which were re-plastered and timbered to create the appearance we see today (below).

Photographed June 2009

Photographed in August 2009