Queen Victoria Jubilee Water Fountain

Queen Victoria Jubilee Water Fountain

A drinking fountain believed to have been erected in 1897, located at the junction of Bloombury Road with Wellsway A367. The fountain is constructed of limestone with elements of pink granite and grey granite. Its style is an eclectic mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque elements.

The structure comprises a niche set within a limestone surround, with volutes supporting an ogee arch that terminates in a fleur-de-lis crocket finial. The niche is framed by colonnettes of pink granite with grey granite bases and limestone stiff-leaf capitals (one of which is damaged). From these rises a trefoil arch within a round-headed arch, with foliate carving to the cusps. The projecting basin is of pink granite. A grey granite tablet, from which water originally issued, carries inset metal lettering reading: 'TO COMMEMORATE / QUEEN VICTORIA'S / 60 YEARS REIGN / 1837-1897'.

The fountain was erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee and to provide clean drinking water in an area undergoing expanding development. It occupies a prominent position at the north end of the gardens separating the early 19th-century terrace of 2-28 Bloomfield Road from the villas occupying this stretch of Wellsway, which were built at about the same time as the fountain. Wellsway follows the course of the former Roman Road, the Fosse Way. In the first part of the 20th century, subterranean public conveniences with railings were constructed in front of the fountain. At the time of listing in 2010, the fountain had been out of use for many years.

The latter part of the 19th century saw a great proliferation of public drinking fountains, erected to combat water-borne diseases and alcohol dependency amongst the poor. The Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association erected the first public drinking fountain in 1859 on the boundary fence of St Sepulchre's Church, Snow Hill, City of London. A fountain in a similar Romanesque style appeared in Walcot Street, Bath, in 1861, and many others followed, given by philanthropic associations and individuals. This fountain is a good example of the free and often polychromatic Romanesque and Gothic styles which were much favoured in the design of drinking fountains, the ecclesiastical resonances being considered suitable for an amenity associated with temperance, charity and purity.