Bourne is a market
town and civil parish on the western edge of the
Fens, in the District of South Kesteven in southern
Lincolnshire, England. The town owes its origin to
the Roman road upon which it was built, and also to
the exceptionally fine-quality water supply derived
locally from natural springs. The name “Bourne” (or
“Bourn”, as the town was originally known) is a
common name for a settlement and derives from the
Anglo-Saxon meaning “water” or “stream”.
The town's economy was based on rural industries.
The coming of the railway opened up a market for
mineral waters bottled locally. Today the local
economy is still mainly rurally-based, revolving
around agriculture and food preparation and
packaging geared towards the modern system of
supermarkets, but there are also important light
engineering and tourism activities.


