Churchyard gateways, railings and fountain at St Paul's Church

Stone gate piers and wrought-iron gates and railings, erected around 1730, and drinking fountain erected in 1883.

MATERIALS: the gate piers are constructed of ashlar sandstone, and the gates and railings are of wrought iron. The railings stand on a brick plinth wall with stone coping. The drinking fountain is crafted of polished and rough-tooled Dartmoor granite with bronze fixings.

PLAN: the gate piers are square on plan. The gate piers and railings bound the churchyard of the Church of St Paul (Grade I) on St Paul’s Square.

DESCRIPTION: six gateways are located north, northeast, south, southwest, west, and northwest of the churchyard. The piers either side of the gateways are square on plan and feature carved panel mouldings to each side, a plain cornice, and a decorative urn (of differing styles with gadroons and festoons). The gateways have a variety of wrought-iron and cast-iron gates, generally double gates with evenly-spaced bars, finials and dog bars. The south, southwest and northwest gateways each have a single gate with a scrolled wrought-iron overthrow. The north gate has a wrought-iron scrolled overthrow, and the west gate has pointed finials to a plain overthrow.

The railings stand on a brick plinth wall with stone coping. The north and east stretches of railings have fleur-de-lis finials, and the south and west stretches are pointed with a decorative urn finial to every twentieth rail, and scrolled brackets where they meet piers.

The Turnley drinking fountain on the southeast corner was installed in 1883 and takes the form of a canted granite water bowl and triangular-headed surround over a curved limestone step. Over the water bowl the surround is inscribed: ‘THIS FOUNTAIN IS ERECTED BY THE / MUNICIPAL COUNCIL OF BEDFORD / IN PLACE OF ONE PRESENTED BY / THOMAS WESTLEY TURNLEY / ‘HE SHALL LEAD THEM / UNTO FOUNTAINS OF LIVING WATER’ / REV. VII.7’