Miss Bells Fountain

Miss Bell's Fountain is a drinking fountain and combined street lamp, erected in 1879. It was designed by Sir Charles Barry for the Metropolitan Drinking and Cattle Trough Association and was donated by Miss Eliza Bell of Borovere. The fountain is made of polished Cornish grey granite and bronze. It features an octagonal stepped base with a circular pedestal and bowl on top. From the center rises the fountain column, which is topped by an ornate squat bronze standard that was originally surmounted by a globe-shaped lamp with a finial. Miss Eliza Bell intended to have a street light at the end of her drive on the Winchester road at the edge of Alton, and this gas street lamp combined with the fountain was erected at her expense. A similar fountain, also donated by Miss Bell, was placed in the civic square at Crown Close before being replaced by the War memorial and re-erected in the Public Gardens in Alton.