Dean’s Lamp/Fountain

Location: Montrose, Angus, Scotland

Dean Park, located at Mid Links near Academy Square, contains a 19^th century lamp/fountain combination known locally as Dean’s Lamp. It is adjacent to the statue of Robert Burns on the path between Marine Avenue and Churchyard Walk. The park and lamp were probably (I have been unable to discover relevant data) named after the Dean of Guild, a group of burgh magistrates who were responsible for buildings.

The design, manufactured by McDowall, Steven & Co. Glasgow, supplied fresh water to animals and humans. It is seated on a square stone plinth. A square base houses small demi-lune basins at ground level for dogs, and four large quatrefoil basins for horses. The pedestal is inscribed, ‘The Deans Lamp 1881’.

The highly decorated stanchion and central column are decorated with acanthus and floral relief. Lion masks, a symbol of guardianship, spouted water from which humans drank using metal cups suspended on consoles. A dolphin, symbolizing guardians of water, flank each side of the stanchion. The base of the lamp column contains four mascarons crowned with a shell motif.

The Corinthian column supports a central lantern flanked by two additional lanterns on elaborate palmette consoles. The six sided glass pane lanterns were capped with a ball and spike finial.

It was recorded as a Category C listed building on 30 March 1999. Restoration of the structure in 2002 included repainting the cast iron and installing lanterns to resemble the original design.

Source: Facebook/Bonnie Montrose

Source: Facebook/Bonnie Montrose

Source: Facebook/Bonnie Montrose

Source: http://sugar-grenade.blogspot.ca/2010_04_01_archive.html

Source: http://sugar-grenade.blogspot.ca/2010_04_01_archive.html

Source: http://sugar-grenade.blogspot.ca/2010_04_01_archive.html

Source: http://sugar-grenade.blogspot.ca/2010_04_01_archive.html

Glossary:

• Acanthus, one of the most common plant forms (deeply cut leaves) to make foliage ornament and decoration
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Column Corinthian, a fluted shaft with flowers and leaves at the capital.
• Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Mascaron, a decorative element in the form of a sculpted face or head of a human being or an animal
• Palmette, a decorative motif resembling the fan shaped leaves of a palm tree
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• 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
• Stanchion, upright bar or post providing support

 

Brechin’s Macfarlane Fountains

Location: Brechin, Angus, Scotland

In 1903, the town erected a bandstand and a fountain in the public park. The elaborate cast iron fountain was donated by Robert Duke Esq. of Bearehill and manufactured by Walter Macfarlane and Co.’s Saracen Foundry in Glasgow. Seated in a circular basin, the single pedestal with canted corners hosted lion masks set into concave mouldings which spouted water into basins with fluted edge. Cranes were located on each corner beneath the upper basin. A crane with open wings and head raised operated as a water jet. It was listed as a Category B historic building on 4 August 1986.

Circa 1904

Bandstand and Fountain

Status 2000. Used with permission, John P. Bolton, Scottish Ironwork Foundation

Photographer, Edi Downs

Standing immediately in front of this spray model was a drinking fountain also manufactured by the Saracen Foundry. Number 47 originally designed as a ‘ground basin’ enrichment was, in this instance, supported by a single fluted column with cornice and square capital. An open fretwork canopy with central rosette projected above the fluted font. The finial was a decorative spike.

Circa 1910. Used with permission. Source: The Scottish Ironwork Foundation

Used with permission. Source: Brechin Civic Trust

On Park Road near the Caledonian Steam Railway was another Macfarlane drinking fountain. Design number 7 was a single pedestal basin with four decorative columns rising from an octagonal plinth. Four salamanders descended the fountain pedestal as a symbol of courage and bravery. The basin had a scalloped edge and decorative relief. A central urn with four consoles offered drinking cups suspended by chains. The terminal was a crane recognized as a symbol of vigilance.

The area of St. Ninian’s Square was popular with children who played in the water receptacles. A cattle trough was located a few feet from the drinking fountain which had a basin large enough to sit in and a dog trough at ground level. This is demonstrated in an image which the Angus Archives refused to give permission to use unless I paid a fee. You can view it at this link, https://www.facebook.com/AngusArchives/photos/pb.158698880937355.-2207520000.1460206276./316122285195013/?type=3&theater.

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Glossary:

• Canted corner, an angled surface which cuts of a corner
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Cornice, a molding or ornamentation that projects from the top of a building
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fluted, a long rounded groove
• Fret, running or repeated ornament
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
• Rosette, a round stylized flower design
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

Edzell Drinking Fountain

Location: Edzell, Angus, Scotland

A drinking fountain was erected in 1898 in an open area not far from the Panmure Hotel. The fountain, a modification of drinking fountain number 28 with basin number 39, was a design by George Smith & Co. manufactured by the Sun Foundry.

The round based fountain, which supported a large basin and offered a trough for small animals at ground level, was seated on a circular plinth. A multi-tiered central column decorated with fret detail was flanked by two young boys holding upturned urns from which water poured. The figurines stood on a short pedestal that contained a button to release a flow of water from the urns. Four metal cups supported on chains hung from each of the horizontal consoles on the central column. Four entwined dolphins (symbolizing guardians of all things water related) encircled the column as it narrowed to the orb finial.

The bowl was broken and/or vandalised, and the figurines lost to history. The only remaining part of the fountain is the original terminal which contains the entwined dolphins and orb apex. It has been mounted on a concrete pedestal with two basins and bubbler spigots. It remains in its original location on the north west corner of Edzell Muir off B966. It was recently refurbished.

Source: Facebook

Source: Facebook/Brechinmemories

Source: Facebook/Edzellvillage

Panmure Hotel in background

Creative Commons License, Stanley Howe. Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/4564886

Creative Commons License, James Allan. Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3737448

Glossary:

• Bubbler, a fountain with a tap which ejects a stream of water
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Fret
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Spigot, a device that controls the flow of liquid
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal