http://boar.org.uk/abpwxa6Moore(pic3.htm Latest edit 31 Dec 2008.
Text, page and pictures ©R.J.PENHEY
2008. This page is designed not for viewing
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The Bourne Archive Gallery
John
Moore. Bourn.
Graffiti
on the outside of the east wall of
One is less formally composed and more weathered.
Figure 3a. J Moore’s graffito on
the outside of the east wall of the chancel of Bourne Abbey.
The initial J is written as an I.
It is dated 1807.
The
other is more carefully made and includes more information. He expresses his
wish to have his association with the town known by including its name here, by
saying so more fully in the preface of his book and indeed, by writing and
publishing the book as a whole.
Figure 3b. The more formal inscription including the name
of Bourne.
Figure 3c. The more formal inscription in a clearer light.
John Moore was a native of Bourne who
developed antiquarian interests. His place of birth and the degree of formal
education he shows in his book
on the History of Aveland, together imply that he was a pupil in the grammar school, sited a few
yards away from the graffito.
The wall on which both graffiti are to
found appears to be late medieval and to have stood as part of a ruin
between 1643 and 1807. The rebuilding of the chancel took place in the latter
year and the book was published in 1809. It will have been the sort of
antiquarian interest shown by Moore at this time which rescued the fragments of twelfth
century blind arcade which are to be found inside the building.