Civic Fountain

The civic fountain, installed in 1967, was later enhanced in 1971 with sculptural panels by William Mitchell. The fountain consists of a round concrete pool with a brown brick exterior face, within which stand three detached sculptural panels arranged in a circular pattern. The sculptural panels are made of fibreglass and black concrete, mounted on concrete plinths. The panels are roughly rectangular, approximately 6 metres tall and 1.5 metres wide, and have chamfered sides and plinths. They feature sculpted reliefs on both their outward and inward faces, combining figurative, naturalistic, abstract, and geometric elements. The fountains imagery represents the motto of Southend-on-Sea "Per Mare Per Ecclesiam" (Through the Sea Through the Church) and the city’s coat of arms. The north-east facing panel depicts the city’s coat of arms within decorative borders. This includes a trefoil representing the parish church of Southchurch, an anchor representing St. Clement, a grid iron representing St. Lawrence, and a vase of lilies within a triangular surround representing the parish of St. Mary, Prittlewell. A rectangular cap on the panel appears to depict a ship's mast reflected in the water. The south-facing panel displays a bearded religious figure, possibly St. Clement, on its outward face, and a hooded, monk-like figure on its inward face, likely representing the Cluniac Priory of St. Mary, Prittlewell. Both figures are depicted within decorative frames. The west-facing panel represents Leigh Port with a fishman in medieval dress on both faces, and his net trails into the pool.