Victorian drinking fountain gets new lease of life

Local volunteers have worked for three years to get the fountain restored

A Victorian drinking fountain which was out of use for half a century has been given a new lease of life after being restored by volunteers.

The fountain in East Grinstead, West Sussex, was erected to celebrate Queen Victoria's golden jubilee in 1887, but fell out of use in the 1970s.

The East Grinstead Society has spent three years working to have the fountain reconnected so it can be used to fill reusable water bottles.

Robin Whalley, the society's vice chairman, believes the fountain's modern day role in protecting the environment is something the Victorians would have approved of.

After being reconnected by South East Water, the restored fountain will be officially unveiled in a ceremony on Friday.

It was built by local builder James Charlwood, whose name can still be seen on the south side of the fountain. The masonry was carried out by James Jenner, whose descendants still live in the town.

The water spouted from two of four bronze dolphins and originally had metal drinking cups attached on chains.

Mr Whalley said: "We were mindful, as this was a listed building, we should do minimal work to it.

"We employed a conservator to give us recommendations about which part of the structure we could repair sensitively and which parts we could clean.

"To support the taps we've designed a concrete cube.

"We got a mason to make this out of similar stone to the original York Stone of the fountain and to copy some of the details."

The fountain was installed in 1887 to mark Queen Victoria's golden jubilee

While the fountain was originally designed to be drunk from directly, it is now strictly for filling reusable bottles, he said.

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