Drinking Fountain and Sundial is a Grade II listed building in the West Suffolk local planning authority area, England. First listed on 30 October 1997. Drinking fountain.

Drinking Fountain and Sundial

WRENN ID
gilded-flint-twilight
Grade
II
Local Planning Authority
West Suffolk
Constituency
Bury St Edmunds and Stowmarket MP: Dr Peter Prinsley (Lab)
Country
England
Date first listed
30 October 1997
Type
Drinking fountain
Address
Drinking Fountain and Sundial, Abbey Precincts, Bury St. Edmunds
OS grid reference
TL 856 641
Coordinates
52.24462, 0.71744
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The drinking fountain and sundial, built in 1870, is located in the Abbey Gardens, having been moved there from the south end of The Traverse in 1939. Made of stone, it features a hexagonal raised base surrounded by three flower borders. At the center, a wide shallow bowl on a pedestal supports a tall fluted column, which originally had four water outlets and displays a lead plaque dated 1870 at its base. The column is topped with an enriched Ionic capital and a rectangular pedestal that has a sundial on its south face, finished with an urn at the top.

Local climate

Drinking Fountain and Sundial sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 710 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 85% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 87% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 36 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 62% of listed buildings. Of these, 19 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Ruins of Hall of Pleas and South Wall of Great Court Grade I 27 m
  2. Abbey House Grade II* 69 m
  3. Precinct Wall to South of the Abbey Gate Grade I 74 m
  4. Cathedral Church of St James Grade I 78 m
  5. Abbey Gate and Gatehouse Grade I 79 m
  6. 31, 32 and 33, Angel Hill Grade II* 80 m
  7. 34, Angel Hill Grade II 86 m
  8. Precinct Wall to North of the Abbey Gate Grade I 98 m
  9. Numbers 1, 1a, 2 and 3 West Front and Sampsons Tower Grade I 101 m
  10. North Wall of Great Court of the Abbey Grade I 106 m