Drinking Fountain is a Grade II listed building in the North Northamptonshire local planning authority area, England. Drinking fountain. 2 related planning applications.
Drinking Fountain
- WRENN ID
- noble-loft-jay
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- North Northamptonshire
- Constituency
- Kettering MP: Rosie Wrighting (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Type
- Drinking fountain
- Address
- Drinking Fountain, Horsemarket, Kettering, Kettering Town, NN16 0BS
- OS grid reference
- SP 867 785
- Coordinates
- 52.39848, -0.72588
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
This is an ornate, free-standing cast-iron drinking fountain, dated 1894, created by Walter MacFarlane and Sons. It is made of cast iron and granite and stands on a cross-plan masonry plinth with a round base.
The fountain reaches about 3.3 meters in height and features a statue of Samson atop a pillar, which is decorated with olive tree motifs. The pillar supports four quatrefoil basins, which are held up by lion-shaped jambs. An ornamental shield on the pillar commemorates the donor, John Bryan Esq, with the inscription ‘PRESENTED/ BY/ JOHN BRYAN ESQ/ 26 OCT/ 1894’. The overall form of the statue and fountain remains intact, except for the loss of the chained drinking cups that once hung from consoles above the water basins.
A brass plaque attached to the plinth details the restoration of the fountain, which was funded by the Victorian Restoration Committee. It acknowledges the contributions of committee members and the voluntary restoration work carried out by various engineering and building firms. The restoration was supported by proceeds from an auction of a watercolour of the fountain and the sale of a book featuring poetry and prose from Kettering and Northamptonshire. The Kettering Borough Council, in cooperation with the Restoration Committee, oversaw the reinstatement of the fountain during the mayoralty of J.B. Poole from 1984 to 1985.
Local climate
Drinking Fountain sits in a drier-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 720 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 84% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 86% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 50% of listed buildings. Of these, 16 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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- Full EPC report — heating system, energy costs, size, glazing, construction etc.
- Sale history — 5 transactions since 2000
- Related listed building consents — 2 applications
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
Matched applications, energy data and sale records are assembled automatically and may contain errors. Flag incorrect data.
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