Drinking Fountain, Dalmuir Park

Drinking Fountain, Dalmuir Park

This is a freestanding cast-iron drinking fountain dating to 1907, manufactured by Walter Macfarlane and Company of the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow. It stands on an octagonal stone plinth and is enclosed within an elaborate domed cast-iron canopy supported by columns. The fountain is painted with broadly naturalistic ornament and is located on the southwest footpath of Dalmuir Park in the Dalmuir area northwest of Clydebank. It is no longer in use as a water fountain as of 2025.

The fountain adopts a four-sided design. The pedestal features four decorative legs with lion heads and paws, supporting a quatrefoil-shaped fountain basin decorated with foliate and floral relief. The basin is topped with a splayed pedestal decorated with foliage and herons, and a finial from which cast-iron drinking cups were formerly suspended from chains, though these are no longer present. The open filigree canopy features cusped arches with scalloped edges and roundels above decorated with cartouches bearing alternating swan and heron motifs. A further cartouche depicts the Burgh of Clydebank coat of arms. The canopy's ribbed dome consists of traceried metal with floral designs and is surmounted by an eagle finial. Eight fluted columns with faceted capitals featuring heavily foliated friezes support the canopy, with statues of owls and swans surmounting the capitals inside the canopy.

The fountain was built at the McFarlane's Saracen Foundry in Possilpark, Glasgow, and was installed in 1907 as a gift from Samuel Leckie, ex-Provost of Clydebank. It is first shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map surveyed in 1914 and published in 1918. The fountain was erected in the newly established Dalmuir Park on land purchased by Clydebank Town Council in 1906 for £5,000, which had formerly been part of the Dalmuir House landscape (demolished in 1929) and the associated Dalmuir Paper Mill complex. In December 1906, the Daily Record reported that Clydebank Town Council had accepted the ornamental drinking fountain as a gift from ex-Provost Leckie.

Public water fountains became increasingly common throughout Britain from the mid-19th century onwards as a means of providing readily accessible clean drinking water. Following Queen Victoria's death, commemorative public monuments became popular, with fountains frequently serving as memorials erected by public subscription. Drinking fountains became a standard feature of parks and town squares during the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods.

The fountain and canopy castings were designed in the late 19th century and appear together as pattern reference no. 20 in the Macfarlane and Son 6th edition catalogue published in 1890 (page 413). The fountain's standard design included taps activated by pushing the drinking cups against a small lever. The catalogue notes that all shields and inscriptions were customisable and that fountains could be supplied with a dog trough or with a lamp on top, though it is not known whether the drinking cups shown in the catalogue were originally present on the Dalmuir Park fountain.

In addition to the fountain, a cast-iron bandstand manufactured by the Lion Foundry Co Ltd was also donated to the new park. This bandstand was relocated to Whitecrook Park in 1935 and subsequently moved to its present site at Three Queens Square, Clydebank, in 1983.

The fountain's overall form has remained largely unchanged since its construction. The structure was restored in 2012 as part of a wider scheme funded by West Dunbartonshire Council and the Heritage Lottery Fund, which also included restoration of the park's landscaping and Edwardian features.