Water fountain and walling, Adjacent to 61 Annaghmare Road, Crossmaglen, BT35 9BG

Water Fountain and Walling, Annaghmare Road, Crossmaglen

An attractive roadside water fountain dating from approximately 1930, representing an increasingly rare rural example of this type of public amenity. The fountain comprises a freestanding cast-iron hydrant with a moulded pedestal supporting a fluted shaft stamped with the maker's mark, a banded neck and spout, and a fluted cap surmounted by an acorn finial. It retains its original bucket stand and pull handle. The fountain is mounted on a tarmacadam bay within the road verge, positioned sideways to the road and facing north-west. It is partly enclosed to the rear by a low semi-circular rubblestone wall topped with a hip-ended saddle coping.

The fountain is situated close to the junction of Annaghmare Road and Kiltybane Road, near the former Annaghmare school. It first appears on the fourth edition Ordnance Survey map of 1956 (marked as 'P' for pump), though it does not feature on the preceding 1906–7 edition. Historic maps from 1835 show evidence of an earlier well and pipes fed by Annaghmore Lough in the vicinity, suggesting the fountain may have been installed on the site of a predecessor.

The fountain operates as a pressurised water system rather than a traditional pump mechanism. Water is supplied by turning a small rotating knob, which controls a valve connected to the mains water supply. The knob is linked to an internal counterweighted bevel gear mechanism—a patented self-closing design that stops water flow when released. This design was essential during the transitional period when mains water supply was replacing well supply but had not yet reached every household. The metal bracket at the base of the fountain permits buckets to be filled without requiring hand support.

The fountain was manufactured by Glenfield & Kennedy Ltd., Hydraulic Engineers of Kilmarnock, Scotland, as shown by the maker's name embossed on the pillar. The company was formed in 1899 from the merger of two Kilmarnock-based businesses: the Kennedy Patent Water Meter Co Ltd (established 1863 to market Thomas Kennedy's water meter innovation) and the Glenfield Co Ltd (which supplied castings and undertook foundry work). The two firms had collaborated closely before merging.

The Annaghmare fountain is of a standard design that closely matches examples featured in the company's 1935 catalogue of water works fittings. Glenfield & Kennedy was almost exclusively the manufacturer of water fountains installed in northern Ireland during this period, and similar fountains by the same maker exist at Larne, Ballygawley, Killylea, Strangford, Ballygalley, Newtownhamilton and Groomsport, though some designs featured alternative decorative details such as spouts shaped as lion's heads. The company supplied various models of its self-closing drinking fountain in large numbers from at least the 1880s to the 1940s, exporting widely to the colonies (particularly India, where the company maintained offices in Bombay and Calcutta), to Europe, and to domestic customers throughout Britain and Ireland.

The fountain is of particular significance as a reminder of the mechanisms installed for the provision of clean drinking water during the relatively short period when pressurised mains water supply was replacing traditional well supply but had not yet become universally available. The Annaghmare fountain is notable for being a rare example of such a rural public water installation within the Northern Irish landscape, most known fountains of this type being located in urban or village areas. It was likely positioned on the roadside to serve both the general public and the nearby Annaghmare school.