Drinking Fountain Near North End of Roker Park Terrace

The drinking fountain near the north end of Roker Park Terrace in Sunderland is a memorial fountain dated 1880. It commemorates Sir Hedworth Williamson's gift of land for Roker Park to the people of Sunderland. The fountain is made of ashlar sandstone and granite. It features a tall square column on a high base with Scotia moulding above a swept plinth. Four half-octagonal granite basins are set on round brackets between the base and the plinth. The column base has corner pilasters that support granite shafts, and the entablature breaks forward on these. Above this, there is a corniced block adorned with heraldic devices in low-relief panels, topped with an eagle finial. Inscriptions on the column include a northern side inscription that reads: "This memorial is further intended gratefully to keep in memory the fact that Sir Hedworth Williamson Bart.... gave 17 acres of land for the purpose of forming this public park and pleasure ground for the future use of the people of Sunderland." The southern side states: "....erected by the scholars teachers and friends of Sunday Schools in Sunderland to commemorate the celebration of the centenary of Sunday Schools and the opening of Roker Park June 23 1880." The names on the eastern side are eroded.