Scriven's Conduit

Scriven's Conduit is a conduit head originally dating from 1636, designed in the Jacobean style that combines Gothic and Renaissance details. It was relocated in the 18th and 19th centuries and has been situated in a public park since 1937, where it was rebuilt as a garden feature.

The conduit is made of Painswick limestone ashlar and has an octagonal plan. It features a plain ashlar plinth of two courses on a later platform. At each corner, there are triple shafts with moulded bases and deeply-carved foliage capitals that support a crowning entablature and a miniature crenellated parapet, which has circular openings. Eight moulded ogee ribs spring from the corners at the parapet level and converge to form an open crown topped with an elaborately carved finial, which once held a statue of Jupiter Fluvius pouring rainwater on Sabrina, the goddess of the River Severn.

Each face of the conduit has a pointed arch that is open above and infilled below, with a central shaft on the infill that may have functioned as a mullion in the upper part of the arch. Boldly-projecting and vigorously-carved lion's heads are positioned at each angle of the frieze. Each face of the frieze also features a carved medallion representing one of the resources of the Vale of Gloucester, including cider, wool, corn, and fish, although some are badly weathered. Each roundel is flanked by scallop shells.