Sandwith Memorial Drinking Fountain

The Sandwith Memorial Drinking Fountain was erected in 1883 to commemorate Humphry Sandwith, MD, DCL, CB. It is constructed from ashlar Cornish granite, with secondary polished Indian black granite and Norwegian blue-pearl granite used for the commemorative panels. The fountain has a kidney-shaped plan, incorporating a projecting memorial pedestal to the rear.

The fountain comprises four elements: a large, kidney-shaped horse trough, two low-set dog troughs recessed into the front, a central memorial pedestal, and a hand basin to the rear. The horse trough is kidney-shaped, stands to waist height, and has vertically curved outer surfaces topped by projecting bull-nosed granite copings that slope back to form the main bowl. Two rectangular dog troughs are recessed into the front and raised slightly above ground level. The rear walls of the recesses curve upwards to meet the front of the fountain, each featuring a centrally positioned lead water feed pipe formerly connected to a blocked overflow drain in the main bowl’s lip. The bases of the dog troughs have chamfered lips, and their bowls are filled with cement.

The cambered granite memorial pedestal, with chamfered and stopped edges and stepped moulded plinths to either side, is centrally positioned at the rear of the horse trough. A waist-height hand basin with rounded edges projects from the rear of the pedestal, supported on an integral moulded shelf above an in-filled opening. The opening is now covered by a granite tablet bearing the mason’s name: David Mooney, dated 2019. The basin retains a stub of a cut-off bronze ring, formerly used for suspending drinking cups. The basin’s bowl has been filled with a rectangular black granite slab with rounded corners.

The front of the pedestal features an inset, polished black granite tablet with hand-cut, incised gilded lettering, commemorating Humphry Sandwith, his birth in the town on April 12, 1822, and his death in Paris on May 16, 1881. It states that his family erected the fountain in his memory and for the benefit of his fellow townsmen. The rear cavity of the pedestal is filled with blue-pearl granite panels; the upper cambered panel is decorated with a sunburst and an inset tablet stating "RENOVATED / 2019. / BY THE / BRIDLINGTON / TOWN COUNCIL."