Bourn: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia
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{{infobox UK place
|country = England
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|official_name= Bourn
| population = 1,015
|population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 Census]])<ref name="cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk">{{Cite web |url=http://www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/census2011/census_maps# |title=ArchivedCensus copyMaps | Cambridgeshire Insight |access-date=25 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728074740/http://www.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/census2011/census_maps# |archive-date=28 July 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
|shire_district= [[South Cambridgeshire]]
|shire_county = [[Cambridgeshire]]
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'''Bourn''' is a small village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[South Cambridgeshire|South]] [[Cambridgeshire]], England. Surrounding villages include [[Caxton, Cambridgeshire|Caxton]], [[Eltisley]] and [[Cambourne, Cambridgeshire|Cambourne]]. It is 8 miles (12 km) from the county town of [[Cambridge]].<ref name="getamap">[http://www.getamap.co.uk Ordnance Survey www.getamap.co.uk]</ref> The population of the parish was 1,015 people at the time of the 2011 census.<ref name="cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk"/>
Bourn has a [[Church of England]] primary school, a doctors' surgery, the Church of St. Mary & St. Helena, a golf club, a former [[Royal Air Force]] bomber airfield (RAF Station Bourn 1940–1945), which today is used for light aircraft, and an old [[windmill]]. [[Bourn Hall Clinic]], the centre for infertility treatment founded in 1980 by IVF pioneers Mr Patrick Steptoe and Professor Robert Edwards, who were responsible for the conception in 1978 of [[Louise Brown]], the world's first IVF or test-tube baby in 1978, is also located here. Since its foundation the clinic has assisted in the conception of overmore than 10,000 babies.
A small stream called [[Bourn Brook, Cambridgeshire|Bourn Brook]] runs through the village, eventually joining the [[River Cam]].
==History==
The name Bourn is derived from the [[Old English]] ''burna'' or Old Scandinavian ''{{lang|non|brunnr}}'', meaning '(place at) the spring(s) or stream(s)'. It was spelled ''Brune'' in the 1086 [[Domesday book]].<ref>Mills, A.D. (1998). A Dictionary of English Place-names. Second Edition. Oxford University Press, Oxford. p47. {{ISBN|0-19-280074-4}}</ref><ref>Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP40/629; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H5/CP40no629/aCP40no629fronts/IMG_0468.htm; 4th entry; a place spelt Broune(?), in Cambs. might refer to Bourn</ref>
Bourn has existed as a settlement for over a thousand years. [[Roman Britain|Roman]] remains have been found along the [[Bourn Brook, Cambridgeshire|Bourn Brook]] and near Bourn Hall. Evidence of [[Romano-British]] activity has been found along the top of the valley on the airfield, and, in the direction of [[Caxton, Cambridgeshire|Caxton]]. Three [[tumuli]] on Alms Hill are of Roman and Danish origin and the two whichthat were excavated in 1909 contained Roman coins and pottery, a [[Celt]]ic button and evidence of Danish feasting commemorating the death of a leader or celebrating a victory around 1010.
The [[mediaeval]] village was in a wooded valley and developed along both sides of the [[Bourn Brook, Cambridgeshire|Bourn Brook]]. The farming system of common grazing land and six large fields managed in a three-course rotation lasted until the [[Enclosure Act]] in 1809. By 1279 there were 183 families and 900 people; the names of fields and families from this time are still known in the area. By the 14th century, Bourn's population had dropped to 299 because of factors including the [[Bubonic plague|plague]], high taxes, poor weather, the emergence of the [[yeoman]] farmer and the decrease in [[serfdom]].
By the 19th century, settlement in Bourn parish was concentrated along the High Street near the church, though there were also streets and ancient closes in the areas of the village known as Caxton End and Crow End.<ref name="britishhistory"/>
The population grewhad grown to 945 by 1851. This fell to 587 in 1931, during the [[Great Depression]], but after [[World War II]] a large influx of squatters from London came to live on the disused airfield and the population was 1,053 in 1951.<ref name="britishhistory">[http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=66669 'Parishes: Bourn', A History of the County of Cambridge and the Isle of Ely: Volume 5 (1973), pp. 4–16. Date accessed: 26 July 2008]</ref> Some later occupied Bourn's first council housing estate, Hall Close.<ref name="history">[http://www.bourn.org.uk/history.htm Bourn website: History] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727005909/http://www.bourn.org.uk/history.htm |date=27 July 2008 }}</ref>
==RAF Bourn==
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Bourn Airfield was constructed for [[RAF Bomber Command]] in 1940 as a satellite airfield for nearby [[RAF Oakington]].
Now the Rural Flying Corps uses part of the runway for light aircraft; small industrial developments occupy other areas of the site. On Bank Holidays, Bourn Market uses much of the old runways for stalls.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.rfcbourn.flyer.co.uk/# |title=Rural Flying Club |access-date=30 March 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120722101713/http://www.rfcbourn.flyer.co.uk/# |archive-date=22 July 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
==Governance==
Bourn parish council has nine councillors.<ref name="parishcouncil">[http://www.bourn.org.uk/parish.htm Bourn Parish Council] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080727010053/http://www.bourn.org.uk/parish.htm |date=27 July 2008 }}</ref> The parish is represented on [[South Cambridgeshire District Council]] by three councillors for the Bourn ward<ref>[http://www.scambs.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/Elections/newwards.htm South Cambridgeshire District Council: Electoral Wards] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080724183938/http://www.scambs.gov.uk/CouncilAndDemocracy/Elections/newwards.htm |date=24 July 2008 }}</ref> and on [[Cambridgeshire County Council]] by one councillor.<ref>[http://scambs.moderngov.co.uk/mgMemberIndex.aspx?bcr=1 South Cambridgeshire District Council: Your Councillors]</ref> It is in the [[parliamentary constituency]] of South Cambridgeshire, represented at the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] byas part of the [[HeidiSouth Allen]].<ref>[http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/commons/l/Cambridgeshire (UK Parliament: Findconstituency)|South your MPCambridgeshire]</ref>] constituency.
==Geography==
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|Northwest = [[Caxton, Cambridgeshire|Caxton]]
|North = [[Cambourne]]
|Northeast = [[Caldecote, South Cambridgeshire|Caldecote]]
|West = [[Caxton, Cambridgeshire|Caxton]]
|Centre = Bourn
|East = [[Caldecote, South Cambridgeshire|Caldecote]]
|Southwest = [[Longstowe]]
|South = [[Kingston, Cambridgeshire|Kingston]]
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A war memorial to commemorate Bourn men who died in the [[First World War|First]] and [[Second World War]]s stands at the junction of the High Street and Short Street.<ref>[http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cambridgeshire/Bourn.html Roll of Honour: Bourn]</ref>
===Mill===
===Mill===<!-- Bourn Mill redirects here and is in category Grade I listed buildings in Cambridgeshire -->
[[File:Bourn windmillPostmill (geograph 4469376).jpg|left|thumb|Bourn Mill]]
The[[Bourn Post MillWindmill]] dates from at least 1636, when it was sold by John Cook. It is believed to be the second oldest surviving windmill in the UK after [[Pitstone Windmill]] in Buckinghamshire. In 1741, Richard Bishop was killed when he was trying to turn the mill in high winds and part of it blew down. The mill was sold in 1926 when it became outmoded by engines fuelled by paraffin. It has been owned by [[Cambridge Past, Present and Future]] (formerly known as the Cambridge Preservation Society) since 1932.
The body of the mill, the 'buck', contains all the machinery and is balanced on a 'post' supported by an oak trestle, which supports the entire weight of the mill, and bolted to four brick piers. Four sails and millstones in front of the post balance the double steps (which act as a thrust support when down) and the tail pole behind (which is used to turn the sails into the wind). It is called a 'Post Mill' because of its supporting post.
The sails have to face squarely into the wind so the buck, with the weight of all its machinery, has to be turned. First the {{not a typo|talber}} (step lever) is pulled down and hooked into place to raise the steps, then the miller pushes the tail pole round and lastly lowers the steps again. The sails will turn without canvas in a strong wind but two 'common sails' (with close slats) can be 'clothed' by threading ringed canvasses on to central steel rods and roping them on to the sails. The other pair were fitted with 'automatic spring shutters' which opened releasing wind pressure when it blew too hard. Only two broken shutters remain of these.<ref name="cps">[http://www.cpswandlebury.org.uk/page6.html Cambridge Preservation Society] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919165246/http://www.cpswandlebury.org.uk/page6.html |date=19 September 2008 }}</ref>
The mill was repaired and restored in 2003 after a grant from [[Heritage Lottery Fund]]. andThe work meant that the mill's sails can nowcould turn by wind, thoughbut it iswas not usedrestored forto grindinga condition where it could grind.<ref>[http://www.hlf.org.uk/English/TextOnly/InYourArea/EastOfEngland/CaseStudies/Bourn+Mill.htm Heritage Lottery Fund: Bourn Mill] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119151314/http://www.hlf.org.uk/English/TextOnly/InYourArea/EastOfEngland/CaseStudies/Bourn%2BMill.htm |date=19 November 2008 }}</ref> In November 2021, the mill was placed on the Heritage at Risk Register, being said to be in danger of collapsing.<ref name=BBC59148877>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-59148877 |title=Bourn Mill: One of oldest windmills at risk of collapse |work=BBC News |date=4 November 2021 |accessdate=4 November 2021 }}</ref>
===Bourn Hall===
[[ImageFile:Neale(1818) p1.144 - Bourn HallHouse, Cambridgeshire.jpg|thumb|rightleft|Bourn Hall, c. Clinic1818]]
[[File:Bourn Hall Clinic.jpg|thumb|Bourn Hall in 2013]]
The present [[Bourn Hall Clinic|Bourn Hall]] is built on the site of a wooden castle that was burnt down during the [[Peasants' Revolt]]. A timber-framed house built early in the 16th Centurycentury was added to in 1602 by the Hagar family in the form of a three-sided courtyard hall. Rainwater gutters at the front of theBourn Hall still have the initials of John and Francis Hagar.
The Hagar family left Bourn Hall in 1733, and the estate belonged to the [[De La Warr]]s family until 1883. During this period, Bournthe house was visited by [[Queen Victoria]] and [[Albert, Prince Consort|Prince Albert]] while they were staying at [[Wimpole Hall]]. The last family connection with the village was Lady Mary, daughter of the 7th Earl De La Warr and wife of Major Griffin, who bought the Hallhouse in 1921 and lived there until 1957. The property was then acquired by Peter and Ann King.
Bourn Hall was bought by [[Patrick Steptoe]] and [[Robert Edwards (physiologist)|Bob Edwards]] in 1980. andIt became a world-famous clinic for the treatment of [[infertility]] and is known as the [[Bourn Hall Clinic]].
===Wysing Arts Centre===
Just outside the village to the west of Bourn is [[Wysing Arts Centre]], a research and development centre for the visual arts. Wysing Arts operates a year-round programme of public exhibitions, events, schools and family activities, alongside artistic residencies and retreats.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cultunet.com/es/recursos-culturales/convocatorias/wysing-arts-centre-programme-of-artists-residencies-cambridge |title=cultunet |publisher=cultunet.com |date=3 December 2012 |accessdate=3 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140429192943/http://www.cultunet.com/es/recursos-culturales/convocatorias/wysing-arts-centre-programme-of-artists-residencies-cambridge# |archive-date=29 April 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref>
==Education==
Bourn has had a history of education in the village fromsince 1520. From 1819, boys were taught in the church tower and girls received a more limited education in a nearby cottage. The Church and the Hall combined to build a school in 1866, designed for 144 children. Within three years, 81 children were attending, paying 2d, 3d or 6d for their schooling. This school was closed in 1958 and became the Village Hall, which has recently been extended and improved with grant aid, and is a meeting place for village functions.
A new school building was built in 1958 on the edge of the village, adjacent to open fields. It is within walking distance of most of the village. The school serves a large rural area of about {{convert|24|sqmi|km2}}. It is designated a [[Church of England]] controlled school. Bourn School serves the villages of Bourn, [[Caxton, Cambridgeshire|Caxton]], [[Longstowe]] and [[Kingston, Cambridgeshire|Kingston]] and is in the [[catchment area (human geography)|catchment area]] of Comberton Village College, deemed in 2005 to be one of the best state secondary schools in the country (as of 2005).
==Religious sites==
Following the [[Norman Conquest]], a wooden church at Bourn was given to the monks of [[Barnwell Priory]] by [[Picot of Cambridge|Picot]], the [[High Sheriff of Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire|Sheriff of Cambridgeshire]], who built his wooden castle next to it.<ref name="history"/> The current stone church, dedicated to St Mary and St Helena, dates from the 12th century onwards and is built of field stones and [[ashlar]], with dressings of [[limestone]] and [[clunch]], in the Transition NormanTransitional, Early English and Laterlater styles.<ref name="genuki"/> Following the [[English Reformation|Reformation]], the church was given to [[Christ's College, Cambridge]], which is patron and responsible for the [[chancel]] repairs. The tower has a twisted spire and houses a [[bell tower|belfry]] with a full peal of eight bells. There are some pictures and a description of the church aton the Cambridgeshire Churches website .<ref>[http://www.druidic.org/camchurch/churches/bourn.htm The church's page at the Cambridgeshire Churches website]</ref>
Memorials in the church include one to Erasmus Ferrar, brother of [[Nicholas Ferrar]], founder of the [[Anglican]] community at [[Little Gidding, Cambridgeshire|Little Giddingcommunity]]. John Collett, farmer, of Bourn Manor was the husband of Susannah, sister to Erasmus and Nicholas, who were frequent visitors to the parish, where the family took refuge from the [[Black death|plague]]. There were Protestant dissenters in Bourn from 1644 and there was a [[Methodist]] Chapel active in the village until 1982. The ecclesiastical parish is in the diocese of [[Ely Cathedral|Ely]].<ref name="cambshistory">[http://www.cambridgeshirehistory.com/cambridgeshire/TownsandVillages/Bourn/index.html Cambridgeshire History: Bourn]</ref>
==Disputed Housing Development==
In 2014, a proposal to build ~3500 homes upon Bourn Airfield was put forward.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.bournairfield.co.uk/whats-proposed-new/#homes|title=What’s Proposed NEW {{!}} Bourn Airfield|website=www.bournairfield.co.uk|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref> Some residents of Bourn pretested this, starting a campaign called StopBAD (where B.A.D stands for: Bourn Airfield Development). Arguments against developing the airfield include: the contended definition of the land as [[Brownfield land|brownfield]], strain on local infrastructure (roads and schools), contradictions of the proposal with council policy, and loss of character.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.stopbad.org.uk/the-key-issues.html|title=The Key Issues|website=The Campaign to Stop Bourn Airfield Development|language=en|access-date=2019-08-09}}</ref>
==See also==
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{{Commons category|Bourn}}
* [http://www.bourn.org.uk/ Bourn Village Website]
* [http://www.bourn-hall-clinic.co.uk/ Bourn Hall Clinic for infertility] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112063542/http://www.bourn-hall-clinic.co.uk/ |date=12 January 2012 }}
* [http://www.bournschool.co.uk/ Bourn Church of England Primary School]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120722101713/http://www.rfcbourn.flyer.co.uk/ Rural Flying Corps]
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{{Cambridgeshire}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Villages in Cambridgeshire]]