Fountain, Dunville Park, Falls Road, Belfast, County Antrim

Ornamental Terracotta Fountain, Dunville Park, Falls Road, Belfast

This is an ornamental terracotta fountain of eclectic style, dating from 1892, designed by A. E. Pearce and built by the London firm Doulton & Co. It stands at the centre of Dunville Park, which occupies the corner of Grosvenor Road and Falls Road. Although the fountain is in poor condition and no longer working, it remains a rare example of a terracotta fountain in Northern Ireland and is considered of national importance, described by architectural historian Paul Larmour as "an astonishing piece of ceramic work" and compared in character to the French Renaissance-style Victoria Fountain in Glasgow of 1888. The Historic Buildings Record describes it as a large terracotta fountain decorated with a mixture of Jacobean and naturalistic ornament.

Architectural Description

The fountain is a large three-tier structure in buff Victorian terracotta, set within a circular pool. It rises to over thirty-two feet in height and displays elaborate relief and coloured ornamentation throughout.

At the base, a lobed-plan plinth with moulded coping forms a smaller pool. Above this, a circular arcade of eight square-section panelled columns with elaborately carved capitals supports the lowest and largest of the three ornamental circular dishes. This dish is decorated with lion heads. The arcade itself stands on a moulded octagonal stone base. The moulded coping to the plinth and the outer rim of the main pool are decorated with Doulton ware medallions representing birds and fish.

The second tier rises from a circular-plan shaft with relief ornamentation and four projecting pilasters with painted glazed terracotta detailing, all supporting a second large ornamental circular dish. Four buttresses with moulded cornices support Renaissance column-shaped painted glazed finials and are set within this second dish.

The third and uppermost tier is supported by an octagonal panelled shaft with a moulded top and scrolled coping, culminating in a small ornamented circular dish with a painted glazed ball finial.

At various levels the fountain incorporates four female figures holding urns over their heads, smaller figures, carved lions' heads, and vase features. The entire structure is described as a fine example of art pottery.

The main circular pool is formed by a dwarf terracotta wall with moulded coping. On the south-east part of the stone wall stands a pedimented rectangular-section terracotta drinking fountain. This has a scrolled pediment top and bears the engraved date 1892 on its south-east elevation. The centre of the drinking fountain features a round arch with a pronounced keystone and a projecting drinking bowl. It is decorated with strapwork and flanked by ornamented pilasters. The north-west elevation is decorated with carved human faces.

Historical Background

The site of Dunville Park was presented to the city in 1889 by the wealthy distiller Robert Grimshaw Dunville, who also covered the costs — believed to be £5,000 — of laying out the park, constructing the park-keeper's lodge, and commissioning the fountain as its centrepiece.

The minutes of the Parks Committee of Belfast Corporation record that on 15 April 1891 the Assistant Surveyor was asked to submit sketches of a fountain and obtain estimates for both a terracotta and a cast iron version. At the meeting of 6 May 1891, two designs were examined — one by Doulton & Co. and one by Stiff & Sons, both London manufacturers — and the Doulton proposal was accepted a week later. The agreed estimate of £665 excluded the concrete base of the basin but included the terracotta margin or parapet.

Progress was slow. On 11 November 1891 the Committee approved Doulton's request to postpone completion until after the winter to avoid frost damage. By the meeting of 13 April 1892, with two Doulton representatives present, the Committee expressed its disappointment at the lack of progress. The Committee chairman and Town Clerk subsequently visited Doulton's London premises, where they were told that the firm wished to make an entirely new fountain as it was not satisfied with the colouring of the one already made. While the chairman accepted that Doulton was acting in good faith, the Committee on 4 May 1892 insisted the work be completed within four months.

On 31 August 1892 the Committee directed the Town Clerk to liaise with Robert Dunville and Doulton regarding the wording and positioning of the inscription on the fountain. No committee minute records the final completion, but the Belfast Newsletter of 15 September 1892 reported that on the previous afternoon the Parks Committee chairman, William Masterson, and several members had formally inaugurated the new fountain. The ceremony was presided over by Constantine O'Neill, described as an old resident on the Falls Road. Dunville himself was in Scotland and unable to attend. Both the Committee chairman and Mr Mackay of Doulton stated at the inauguration that this was the finest fountain in Ireland.

The newspaper report credited "the celebrated Tireworth" as the designer, though this individual has not been identified and other sources attribute the design to A. E. Pearce. The fountain is marked on the Ordnance Survey 1:1056 scale map of 1905. Plans have been underway to restore the park.

Setting

The fountain is enclosed by modern cast iron railings with arrowhead railing tops and square-section standards with ball finials, and is located at the centre of Dunville Park at the corner of Grosvenor Road and Falls Road.