Clock Tower Fountain

Location: Mitcham, Surrey, England

On 29 November 1899, a clock tower and cast iron drinking fountain was unveiled by James Salter White, chairman of the Croydon Rural District Council. The structure was funded by public subscription to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897.

1899 unveiling. Source: https://photoarchive.merton.gov.uk/collections/events-organisations/33363-unveiling-of-mitcham-clock-tower-upper-green

Status 1907. Source: https://arena.yourlondonlibrary.net/web/merton/thennow

Status 1910 postcard

Circa 1900s. Source: https://mitchamhistorynotes.wordpress.com/tag/fair-green/page/1/

It was erected on the site of the old village pump in an area which was a rally point for Evangelists and politicians, fundraising, and events such as recruitment for the war and the inspection of Red Cross nurses by visiting Royalty.

Old Pump. Source: https://merton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s2427/mg06

The structure was controversial as many residents were unhappy that the old pump had been removed, and the clock became well known for its unreliability due to condensation affecting the clock’s mechanism. It was not uncommon for each of the four faces to show a different time.

1899. Source: https://merton.moderngov.co.uk/documents/s2427/mg06

The drinking fountain erected on London Road adjacent to the Buck’s Head pub and opposite the King’s Arms was relocated several times within Fair Green to allow for regeneration of the area. A controversial move in 1994, part of London Road was closed to traffic to create a pedestrian area and market place. It is within this pedestrian area that the structure is currently situated.

1910 Source: National Library of Scotland

1952 Source: National Library of Scotland

On 2 September 1988, it was listed as a Grade II historic building. In 2014 funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund enabled the town to undertake restoration of the historic structure; a water supply was connected to the drinking fountain, a new weather vane was installed, and the clock was refurbished by Surrey-based specialist clock makers Gillett & Johnston (the clock hands are not to the original design).

The newly restored structure was erected on 26th August 2015 with bespoke lanterns installed in 2016 to illuminate the clock face. (The original four gas lamps were replaced during the advent of electricity.)

2015

2016

The structure manufactured by McDowall Steven & Co. Ltd. is approximately 7m high and was seated on a two tiered octagonal plinth originally with two dog troughs at ground level. Two large demi-lune basins protrude from the pedestal beneath which the maker’s nameplate is visible, McDowall Steven & Co. / Limited / London & Glasgow.

Four dolphins (dolphins are a symbolic protector of all things related to water) at each corner of the stanchion create sections decorated with a shell pattern, floral relief and a crest engraved V.R. 1897 which is a reference to the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Two drinking cups were once suspended on chains.

Source: https://twitter.com/MitchamNotes

The capital supports a fluted lamp column with attic base. The column is decorated with swags, a shield bearing a cross and stylized flowers flanked by leaves. Four consoles offered a gas light source from a glass paned lantern the top of which was decorated with palmette relief and a terminal resembling castle turrets.

Four beaded consoles divided by a flower sit just beneath the four clock faces. Each clock panel is bound by fan spandrels. A gable roof is adorned by a spike at each peak and bas-relief of a crown in the pediment.

A closed urn with four knob pendants supports a weather vane with directional compass points and a directional arrow with butterfly wings.

 

Status 1980. Creative Commons License, Dr. Neil Clifton. Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/568262

Status 2008

Status 1966. Used with permission, Merton Historical Society. Source: http://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk Photographer Eric Montague. Source: http://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk/mhs-em-ug-20/

Status 2013. Copyright David Roe, used with permission. Source: http://mertonhistoricalsociety.org.uk

Status 2010. Creative Commons License, Stephen Craven. Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1853146

Glossary:

• Attic base, a column base with two rings
• Bas-relief, sculpted material that has been raised from the background to create a slight projection from the surface
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Demi-lune, half moon or crescent shape
• Fluted, a long rounded groove
• Gable, triangular portion of a wall between edges of a dual pitched roof
• Palmette, a decorative motif resembling the fan shaped leaves of a palm tree
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Pediment, an element in architecture consisting of a gable placed above a horizontal structure supported by columns
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Spandrel, the triangular space between two arches
• Stanchion, upright bar, post or frame providing support
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

Clones Jubilee Fountain

Location: Clones, Co. Monaghan, Northern Ireland

A cast iron canopy and drinking fountain located at the market area known as the Diamond was installed in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee which celebrated 60 years of her reign.

Source: http://lawrencecollection.com/photo/the-square-25/

Circa 1965, a brewery truck reversed into it doing irreparable damage. Three of the four griffins which were positioned above each column were rescued and incorporated on top of a wall leading from Roslea Road to the Roman Catholic Church. Although the font basin still remained in situ in 1967, all remnants of the drinking fountain are now lost.

The canopied drinking fountain was design number 21 (18 feet by 4 feet) from Walter Macfarlane &Co.’s catalog manufactured by the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland. Seated on a triple tiered octagonal plinth, the canopy was supported by eight columns with griffin terminals which were positioned over capitals with foliage frieze above square bases.

The highly decorated cusped arches were trimmed with rope mouldings which displayed lunettes with a profile image of Queen Victoria and a dedication shield; Erected By / Public Subscription / To Commemorate / The / Diamond Jubilee / Of / Queen Victoria / 1897. On each side arch faceplates provided a flat surface for inscription using raised metal letters; often the useful monition, Keep The Pavement Dry. Civic virtues such as temperance were often extolled in inscriptions on drinking fountains.

Doves and flowers offered decorative relief on the circular, open filigree, ribbed dome. The internal capitals were floral ornament. The openwork iron canopy was surmounted with a vase and spiked obelisk finial.

Under the canopy stood font casting number 7. The 5 ft 8ins high font was a single decorative pedestal with four pilasters and descending salamander relief supporting a basin 2 ft 6 ins in diameter. The interior surface of the scalloped edge basin was engraved with decorative relief, and a sculptured vase was terminated by the figure of a crane. Four elaborate consoles support drinking cups on chains. Water flowed from a spout into the drinking cup by pressing its edge against a projecting stud below the spout. The self-closing valve allowed for operation with only one hand.

Symbolism was popular in Victorian times. Griffins are symbolic of guardians of priceless possessions; lions are symbolic of guardianship; doves are synonymous with peace, and owls are symbolic of guardians of the afterlife. Cranes are recognized as a symbol of vigilance and are often depicted standing on one leg while holding a stone in the claws of the other foot. Legend states that if the watchful crane fell asleep the stone would fall and waken the bird.

Source: http://www.postcardsireland.com/postcard/fountain-clones

Circa 1900. Source: http://archiseek.com/2015/1900-fountain-clones-co-monaghan/

Circa 1915-1920

Missing the terminal on top of canopy and the crane finial atop the font

Glossary

• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Cusped Arch, the point of intersection of lobed or scalloped forms
• Filigree, fine ornamental work
• Finial, a sculptured ornament fixed to the top of a peak, arch, gable or similar structure
• Frieze, the horizontal part of a classical moulding just below the cornice, often decorated with carvings
• 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
• Obelisk, a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal

 

Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee Fountain

Location: Auchencairn, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland

A drinking fountain, lamp & trough located in the Square has been a fixture since the late 19^th century. It was funded with public subscriptions and erected in commemoration of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. The fountain which was only one of a few water sources in the very early 1900s also offered water to horses.

Source: http://www.auchencairn.org.uk/index.php/archive-pre-1929-2005-auchencairn-history-103/258-1929-and-earlier

The project to restore the fountain was undertaken in 2009 by Roy Wilson who was an active member of the Auchencairn Initiative (a community fundraising organization). The structure was cleaned, repaired and repainted by Ray Innes of Innes Design Centre, a local British Industrial Design Engineer.

The structure was manufactured by Coalbrookdale Company of Shropshire, England and was originally seated on an octagonal stone plinth. A thick circular pedestal supported a large round trough from which overflow water fed a shallow trough at ground level for the use of smaller animals. During the late 20^th century (post 1996) the plinth was extended using cobblestones creating a circular shape, and the short pedestal and shallow drain forming a trough for dogs was removed.

Beneath the capital of a short column rising from the centre of the trough are two decorative consoles from which drinking cups were originally suspended on chains. The decorative fluted lamp pillar with yoke maintenance arms was surmounted with a gas globe (Bray’s Flat Flame Lantern System.)

The manufacturer’s name is located on the trough basin, and on the fluted pedestal is a decorative shield inscribed with a dedication; Jubilee Lamp / Erected By / Public / Subscription / 1897.

Source: https://www.francisfrith.com/auchencairn/auchencairn-main-street-c1955_a178010

Source: http://www.auchencairn.org.uk/index.php/archive-pre-1929-2005-auchencairn-history-103/248-1970-1996

Creative Commons License, Neil Theasby. Source: http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/5500989

Glossary:

• Bray’s Flat Flame Lantern System, a cluster of wide flat burners within a glass lantern in which the upper portion was white opaque glass to reflect the light downward
• Capital, the top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• Console, a decorative bracket support element
• Fluted, a long rounded groove
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests.
• Yoke maintenance arms, the bars near the top of a street light which supported the lamplighter’s ladder

Castleford Diamond Jubilee Fountain

Location: Castleford, Yorkshire, England

Queen’s Park was created in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. The fountain was installed in 1898. The bandstand which was built in 1900 remains; however, vandalism precipitated the removal of the drinking fountain in the 1950s.

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

Rope moulded cartouches within each lunette hosted the image of a crane, and an open bible displaying a verse from St. John’s Gospel chapter 4 verse 14, ‘Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst,’ or optional memorial shields. On two of the sides provision was made for receiving an inscription using raised metal letters; whilst on the other two sides was the useful monition, Keep The Pavement Dry. Civic virtues such as temperance were often extolled in inscriptions on drinking fountains. The structure was surmounted by an open filigree dome, the finial being a crown with a pattée cross.

Under the canopy stood the font (design number 7) 5 foot 8 inches high. The terminal was a crane. The basin (2 feet 6 inches in diameter) which had a scalloped edge and decorative relief was 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.

Circa 1925. Source: http://www.queenspark.btck.co.uk/ParkHistory

Circa 1929. Source: http://www.queenspark.btck.co.uk/ParkHistory

Source: Facebook/Remembering Airedale, Castleford & Glasshoughton in old photos

Glossary

• Capital: The top of a column that supports the load bearing down on it
• 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
• Fret, running or repeated ornament
• 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
• Pattée cross, a cross with arms that narrow at the centre and flare out at the perimeter
• Pedestal, an architectural support for a column or statue
• Pilaster, a column form that is only ornamental and not supporting a structure
• Plinth, flat base usually projecting, upon which a pedestal, wall or column rests
• Terminal, statue or ornament that stands on a pedestal