Eastgate, Bourne

Eastgate
Bourne Eau at Eastgate
Eastgate Location within Lincolnshire
OS grid reference	TF104198
• London	90 mi (140 km) S
Civil parish	Bourne
District	South Kesteven
Shire county	Lincolnshire
Region	East Midlands
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	BOURNE
Postcode district	PE10
Dialling code	01778
Police	Lincolnshire
Fire	Lincolnshire
Ambulance	East Midlands
UK Parliament	Grantham and Bourne

Eastgate is a historic street and suburb in Bourne, Lincolnshire, running alongside the Bourne Eau. It was associated with the town’s pottery industry in mediaeval times, and later with its automotive industry in the 20th century.

The Bourne Eau was formerly navigable up to Eastgate (where it meets the Car Dyke), and during the early 19th century, many warehouses in Eastgate took advantage of this, with ships carrying up to ten tons of cargo being capable of navigating it.^[1] There was a fire in 1637 which destroyed much of Eastgate, which destroyed the pottery industry that had previously existed in the area,^[2][3] which dated back to the late 12th century.^[4] An archeological survey also found the remains of a building dating to the 13th century, with a large amount of sherds at the same site.^[5] The building fell out of use in the 16th century.^[5] The Bourne Eau continues to flow through Eastgate, although some sections run through culverts.^[3] The coming of the railways and a lack of maintenance led to the river becoming unnavigable.^[1] Notley's Mill was built in 1729, and was located on Victoria Place, bordering Abbey Lawn (where there had previously been a pond), however it was demolished in 1973, marking the closure of the last working mill in Bourne.^[6]

In 1857, a national school was opened on Willoughby Road, designed by Edward Browning, with funds gathered from the congregation.^[7] The national school closed on the 31st of October 1903,^[8] with the students transferred to the school on Abbey Road, and two years later the building re-opened as an Anglican mission church.^[7] The mission church closed in 1950, and after briefly being used by British Racing Motors to store steel, the building was demolished in 1960, replaced by two bungalows.^[7]

There was previously a pub called the Old Wharf Inn in Eastgate.^[9] Another pub, the Woolpack, was listed for let in 1848.^[10] One pub remains open, The Anchor, which is dated from the 18th century and is Grade II listed, backing onto the Bourne Eau.^[11]

On the afternoon of 30 August 1878, a heavy storm resulted in an eleven year old boy from Eastgate dying.^[12] In 1880, Queen's Bridge, located on the west end of Eastgate, was replaced with a new structure.^[13] In October 1898, the Bourne Eau at the site of the bridge was cleared out, revealing a ford or crossing, possibly of Roman origin. The Eau occasionally overflowed its banks, resulting in a flood circa 1930.^[14]

During World War II, on 4 May 1941, a Luftwaffe bomber crashed into the Butcher's Arms, a local pub, destroying it, and killing seven people on the ground, including the publican and his wife, and three soldiers billeted there, while injuring six other soldiers who were staying in the building next to the pub.^[15][16][17] On 11 August 1964 an unexploded bomb was discovered on the site of the Butcher's Arms, by then in use as a garage, and removed the following day by a bomb disposal unit from RAF Newton.^[18][19] Another suspected bomb was discovered on 11 January 2022 at an auctioner's to the west of Eastgate, however bomb was declared not to be a threat by explosive ordnance disposal specialists, who removed it for destruction.^[20]

Queen's Bridge was replaced in 2013, to bring it in line with 40 tonne weight capacity guidelines (it had previously only had a weight capcity of 7.5 tonnes).^[13]

The Delaine Bus Museum is located nearby on Spalding Road, on the former site of the English Racing Automobiles workshop.^[21][22] There was a United Reformed Church to the west of the street, which was built in 1846,^[23][24] however it closed in 2024 due to a dwindling congregation, holding its final service on 23 March; the building is now vacant.^[25]

Eastgate House was built in the late 18th century, in Regency style, and was bought by Thomas Mays, a fellmonger, in 1856.^[26] His grandson, Raymond Mays, was born there on 1 August 1899,^[27] and English Racing Automobiles and later British Racing Motors were run from workshops behind the house,^[28] which at one point employed 120 people.^[29] Amy Johnson was a frequent visitor, and admirer of Mays.^[26] It was Grade II listed in 1949.^[30] After Mays' death in 1980, the house was sold, and then again listed for sale in 2024, at an asking price of £800,000.^[31]

Now divided into two properties, 45 and 47 Eastgate, it was built beginning in the late 17th century and completed in the late 18th century. It served as a tannery for some time, and includes a carriage arch.^[32][33][34]