Moore Memorial Fountain is a Grade II listed building in the Cumberland local planning authority area, England. First listed on 19 November 1984. Fountain.
Moore Memorial Fountain
- WRENN ID
- twelfth-ashlar-sorrel
- Grade
- II
- Local Planning Authority
- Cumberland
- Constituency
- Penrith and Solway MP: Markus Campbell-Savours (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 19 November 1984
- Type
- Fountain
- Address
- Moore Memorial Fountain, Market Place, Wigton
- OS grid reference
- NY 254 483
- Coordinates
- 54.82476, -3.16125
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Moore Memorial Fountain is a drinking fountain memorial located in the centre of Wigton Market Place. It was designed by J.T. Knowles and constructed between 1872 and 1873, featuring panels by Thomas Woolner. The fountain is inscribed with the dedication: "THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY GEORGE MOORE OF WHITEHALL, HIGH SHERIFF OF CUMBERLAND AD 1872, IN LOVING MEMORY OF HIS WIFE, ELIZA, WHO DIED ON THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, 1858."
It is made of polished Shap granite and includes aluminium bronze panels with gilt decoration. The fountain has a square base with projecting fountain bowls on each face, a stepped plinth, and a square shaft. Each face of the shaft features a panel representing the Acts of Mercy, consisting of 340 separate castings produced by Messrs Hardman of Birmingham based on designs by Woolner.
The fountain is topped with an egg and tongue decorated cornice, under which are four pediments that enclose medallion busts of Mrs. Moore, also created by Woolner. The structure culminates in a pyramid spire adorned with angle decorations and each face is cut away in a foliated gilded pattern, topped with a gilded bronze finial in the shape of a ball and cross. The total cost of the fountain was £12,000. For further historical context, see T.W. Carrick's "History of Wigton," published in 1949, pages 161-163.
Local climate
Moore Memorial Fountain sits in one of the wettest parts of the UK, with an average of 1,230 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 92% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 89% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 51 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 93% of listed buildings. Of these, 27 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.
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