Eastgate, Bourne
Eastgate is a historic street and suburb in Bourne, Lincolnshire. It runs alongside the Bourne Eau and was associated with the town’s automotive industry in the 20th century.
History
Early history
The Bourne Eau was formerly navigable up to Eastgate, and during the early 19th century, many warehouses in Eastgate took advantage of this, with ships carrying up to ten tons of cargo capable of navigating it. There was a fire in 1637 which destroyed much of Eastgate, which destroyed the pottery industry that had previously existed in the area. The Bourne Eau continues to flow through Eastgate, although some sections run through culverts. The coming of the railways and a lack of maintenance led to the river becoming unnavigable. Notley's Mill was built in 1729, and was located on Victoria Place, bordering Abbey Lawn, however it was demolished in 1973, marking the closure of the last working mill in Bourne.Nineteenth century
In 1857, a national school was opened on Willoughby Road, designed by Edward Browning, with funds gathered from the congregation. The national school closed on the 31st of October 1903, with the students transferred to the school on Abbey Road, and two years later the building re-opened as an Anglican mission church. 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.There was previously a pub called the Old Wharf Inn in Eastgate. Another pub, the Woolpack, was listed for let in 1848. One pub remains open, The Anchor, which is dated from the 18th century and is Grade II listed, backing onto the Bourne Eau.
On the afternoon of 30 August 1878, a heavy storm resulted in an eleven year old boy from Eastgate dying. In 1880, Queen's Bridge, located on the west end of Eastgate, was replaced with a new structure. 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.
World War II and later history
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, as well as several soldiers billeted there, and injuring six more. 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. 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.Queen's Bridge was replaced in 2013, to bring it in line with 40 tonne weight capacity guidelines.
The Delaine Bus Museum is located nearby on Spalding Road, on the former site of the English Racing Automobiles workshop. There was a United Reformed Church to the west of the street, which was built in 1846, however it closed in 2024, with a final service on 23 March, due to a dwindling congregation, the building is now vacant.