The Drinking Fountains of Mitcham

Location: Mitcham, South Australia

In 1882 there was a series of drinking fountains located along the pipeline between Mitcham and Adelaide.

Under the big oak tree near Brownhill Creek at White Bridge there is a cast-iron drinking fountain which was one of the original drinking fountains and part the Mitcham Water Works built in 1879. For 50 years water was provided from Ellison’s Gully through the valley using a piped-water network. A second fountain was adjacent to the Chapel footbridge where children attending the school used to drink.

The fountain was a tall slim pillar with a hexagonal cap. Water was accessed via a spigot between two rings.

A drinking fountain commemorating Charles Wright stands on Princes Road & Torrens Street at the Mitcham Village Institute. The fountain is a tall slim pillar with a hexagonal cap terminating in a cone shaped finial. A basin was located midway. The sculpture of the upper part of a mermaid with arms stretched back sits above the basin. Directly above the mermaid is a circular armoria with commemoration: This replica drinking fountain recognises the / outstanding contribution which / Charles F. Wright, A. M., / Past President and Paul Harris Fellow / of the Rotary club of Mitcham / has made to Australia, the State of South / Australia and the City of Mitcham / with special emphasis on our heritage. Charles made the pattern used for the casting of / this replica and two originals / which are located in Sutton Gardens / and the Mitcham Reserve. An annular trough at ground level captured overflow water for use by dogs.

Source: Flickr Creative Commons License, Mike Coghlan

Source: https://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/community/display/118640-charles-wright

A similar fountain is located on the Albert Street side of Sutton Gardens, also with a hexagonal cap terminating in a cone shaped finial. The sculpture of the upper part of a mermaid with arms stretched back sits above a basin. Directly above the mermaid is a circular armoria identifying Rotary Club of Mitcham. An annular trough at ground level captured overflow water for use by dogs.

Source: Flickr Creative Commons License: Mike Coghlan

Source: Flickr Creative Commons License: Mike Coghlan

Glossary:

• Armoria, shield, coat of arms, crest
• Annular, ring-shaped
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure

Lion’s Mouth Fountain

Location: Selborne, East Hampshire, England

Inset into a masonry wall located on the B3006 at the south end of the village of Selborne, is a fountain and cattle trough. It was manufactured by the Saracen foundry from a design prepared by TP Hall, Portsmouth and donated to the Village by Mr. W. Mills in 1879.

Source: Lion’s head fountain, Selbourne, Hampshire c.1890 (bathintime.co.uk)

Creative Commons License, Basher Eyre. Source: A chilly drinking fountain at Selborne © Basher Eyre cc-by-sa/2.0 :: Geograph Britain and Ireland

The structure consists of a trough supported by two cattle fetlocks and an arch plate with bas relief of a lion mascaron flanked by two windmills. It is surmised that the significance is related to a corn mill in Selborne and the Dorton water mill, no longer in existence. An inscription above the lion head states PRESENTED BY and the year 1879 is inscribed below the lion head.

Source: https://findaspring.org/spring/uk/lions-mouth-fountain-well-head-spring-selborne/#foogallery-15278/i:1

A spring rising from Noar Hill was the source of water which spouted from the mouth of the lion into a trough and also through a standing pipe. In 1894, to create a water-supply for the village, the spring was diverted by public subscription in memory of Gilbert White who was a local pioneering naturalist, ecologist, and ornithologist.

https://www.ianclarkrestoration.com/62/Victorian-Lions-Head-Drinking-Fountain-restoration-and-protection/

Source: https://www.derelictplaces.co.uk/threads/water-fountain-ram-pump-june-2010.15612/

To the left is a plaque advising visitors that the water supply is NOT DRINKING WATER / DO NOT DRINK. An arched door on the right states: THIS WATER SUPPLY / WAS / GIVEN TO SELBORNE / BY VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS / IN MEMORY OF / GILBERT WHITE / 1894. Behind the door is a hydraulic pump which pumped the water to stand pipes in the village until Selborne was supplied with piped water via the reservoir in 1934.

Restoration of the structures was completed by Ian Clark Restoration. Victorian Lions Head Drinking Fountain Restoration (ianclarkrestoration.com)

Glossary

• Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal

Sister Sophie Chambon Memorial

Location: Larnaca, Cyprus

In front of the entrance to Saint Joseph’s Monastery in Michalaki Paridi Square, Larnaca, is a cast iron fountain in memory of sister Sophie Chambon.

In October 1844, four French nuns from the mission St Joseph de l’Apparition in Lyon, France, arrived in Larnaca to serve the sick and poor alongside Dr. Joseph-Irenee Foblant. Within two years, a girls’ school, the island’s first hospital, and the convent of St Joseph de l’Apparition were built. Cyprus was ravaged by typhoid, cholera and dysentery epidemics during the mid-19^th century, and the original four nuns quickly fell victim to these outbreaks.

Sister Sophie Chambon provided medical care to more than 200,000 patients regardless of their religion, nationality and gender. Sophie, who was later canonised, was called the ‘Florence Nightingale’ of Cyprus. She died from exhaustion after 23 years of service in 1894.

Revered by the people of Larnaca, an appropriate memorial which offered clean drinking water was erected in the convent’s grounds in 1895.

Drinking fountain number 8 from Walter Macfarlane & Co.’s catalogue was manufactured at the Saracen Foundry at Possilpark in Glasgow. The structure is 9 feet 6 inches high and consists of four columns, from the capitals of which consoles with griffin terminals unite with arches formed of decorated mouldings.

The original design offered rope moulded cartouches within lunettes on each of the four sides of the structure. However, this fountain has only one memorial shield. The Latin phrase, Ad Piam Memoriam Sororis Sophiae Larnaca Hoc Erexit 1895 translates as Erected This To The Pious Memory Of Sister Sophie Of Larnaca in 1895. The structure is surmounted by an open filigree dome, the finial being a crown with a Latin cross.

Under the canopy stands the font (design number 7) 5 foot 8 inches high. The terminal is a crane. The basin (2 feet 6 inches in diameter) which has a scalloped edge and decorative relief is supported by a single decorative pedestal with four pilasters and four descending salamanders, a symbol of courage and bravery. A central urn with four consoles offered drinking cups suspended by chains. The fountain was operated by pressing a button.

Symbolism was popular in Victorian times. Griffins are symbolic of guardians of priceless possessions, salamanders display bravery and courage that cannot be extinguished by fire, and cranes are recognized as a symbol of vigilance.

Glossary

• Cartouche, a structure or figure, often in the shape of an oval shield or oblong scroll, used as an architectural or graphic ornament or to bear a design or inscription
• Console: a decorative bracket support element
• Filigree, fine ornamental work
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Griffin, winged lion denotes vigilance and strength, guards treasure and priceless possessions
• Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

The Lost Drinking Fountains of Wednesbury

Location: Wednesbury, West Midlands, England

On the 21st June 1887, to mark the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, Brunswick Park (designed by William Barron and Son) was opened by the Mayor Alderman Richard Williams, J.P.

Drawings for a fountain were submitted by George Smith & Co. and Walter MacFarlane & Co. The cast iron canopied drinking fountain selected was number 3 from George Smith & Co.’s Sun Foundry and was 9 feet 10 inches high. The structure consisted of four columns with obelisk finials rising from a two tiered plinth to support a domed canopy. The interior column connectors to the dome were adorned with descending alligators and leafy decoration. Alligators were considered a symbol of evil and were hung from the ceilings of cabinets as a reminder of the mortality of humanity.

Arch faceplates offered a flat surface for inscriptions in raised metal letters: civic virtues such as temperance were extolled on many drinking fountains. Over each arch, cartouches within each lunette offered commemorative dedication or crests; the town’s coat of arms is visible in the photograph.

The solid dome with finial covered the fluted pedestal and wide basin containing a standing putto (design #7) holding an urn from which water flowed.

Glossary:

• Cartouche, a structure or figure, often in the shape of an oval shield or oblong scroll, used as an architectural or graphic ornament or to bear a design or inscription
• Lunette, the half-moon shaped space framed by an arch, often containing a window or painting
• Finial, A sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fluted, A long rounded groove decorating the shaft of a column
• Obelisk, A tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Plinth, Flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Putto, A figure in a work of art depicted as a chubby male child, usually nude

In Kings Hill Park, a fountain was placed on the footpath atop a three tiered plinth. The 6’ 2” drinking fountain, design number 18, was manufactured by Walter Macfarlane’s Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland. It had a wide base in the form of a St. Andrew’s cross with canted corners, on which was set a circular shaft ornamented with water lilies. Four lion jambs supported four highly decorated quatrefoil basins. An obelisk with swan and bird relief rose from the center of the basins. A capped urn terminal with four consoles offered drinking cups suspended by chains.

Symbolism was popular in Victorian times. Griffins are symbolic of guardians of priceless possessions; lions are symbolic of guardianship; owls are symbolic of guardians of the afterlife, and eagles represent immortality.

Glossary

• Canted corner, an angled surface which cuts of a corner
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Jamb, a projecting vertical post containing sculpture
• Kylix, a Grecian style drinking cup
• Obelisk, a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Quatrefoil, a type of decorative framework consisting of a symmetrical shape which forms the overall outline of four partially-overlapping circles of the same diameter
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

During World War II these cast iron structures, in addition to railings and the cannons from the mount, were removed to recycle metal as a way of assisting in the war effort.