History in Structure

Sidney Cooper Weston drinking fountain

A Grade II Listed Building in Folkestone, Kent

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Coordinates

Latitude: 51.0829 / 51°4'58"N

Longitude: 1.1919 / 1°11'30"E

OS Eastings: 623654

OS Northings: 136359

OS Grid: TR236363

Mapcode National: GBR W22.24L

Mapcode Global: FRA F6D8.65J

Plus Code: 9F3335MR+5Q

Entry Name: Sidney Cooper Weston drinking fountain

Listing Date: 29 January 2019

Grade: II

Source: Historic England

Source ID: 1459864

ID on this website: 101459864

Location: Folkestone, Folkestone and Hythe, Kent, CT19

County: Kent

District: Folkestone and Hythe

Civil Parish: Folkestone

Built-Up Area: Folkestone

Traditional County: Kent

Lieutenancy Area (Ceremonial County): Kent

Tagged with: Drinking fountain

Summary


Drinking fountain and lamp standard. Erected in 1897 to commemorate the local philanthropist Sidney Cooper Weston. Design by Andrew Handyside and Co of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby. Relocated in 1922.

Description


Drinking fountain and lamp standard. Erected in 1897 to commemorate the local philanthropist Sidney Cooper Weston. Design by Andrew Handyside and Co of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby. Relocated in 1922.

MATERIALS: painted cast-iron with a base of stone slabs.

DESCRIPTION: the baroque style fountain consists of a quatrefoil-shaped shallow trough surrounding an elaborate drinking fountain topped with a lamp standard. The fountain has four curved buttresses with decorative mouldings and terminating in piers topped with statues of putti holding water urns. Set between the buttresses are semi-circular basins with gadroon mouldings set over cartouches with roundel decoration. Above the basins Poseidon masks provide water spouts. The masks are separated by inverted consoles and topped by a gadroon moulding. The pilasters have small lugs which would originally have had chains attached to drinking mugs, now lost.

The lamp standard is in the form of a Corinthian column. The bulbous base is enriched with acanthus leaves and the fluted shaft has two decorative bands. The lamp gallery has a central column and two branches (with additional scrollwork) each supporting a modern light fitting with a glass globe.

On the face of one of the piers is a plaque bearing the following inscription ERECTED/ 1897/ BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ IN MEMORY OF/ SIDNEY COOPER WESTON/ OF THIS TOWN/ CHRISTIAN PHILANTHROPIST/ AND/ GOSPEL TEMPERANCE ADVOCATE/ BORN DEC 29TH 1842/ DIED JAN 25TH 1893/ PSALM 41.1 BLESSED IS HE THAT/ CONSIDERETH THE POOR.

The fountain stands on a low circular stone base, presumably replacing the original stone plinth when it was relocated in 1922.

History


The drinking fountain was erected in 1897 by public subscription in commemoration of Sidney Cooper Weston (1842-1893), a local professional photographer, temperance advocate and philanthropist. It was originally erected at the junction of the Leas and West Terrace to provide drinking water to the public and the horses of hansom cab drivers. In 1922 the fountain was moved to a new location at the junction of Wear Bay Crescent and Wear Bay Road to allow for the erection of the town’s war memorial. The gas lamps were probably converted to electricity at this time. The fountain was restored in 1981 and repainted in 2006 and 2010.

The cast-iron fountain and gas lamp standard was supplied by Andrew Handyside and Co of the Britannia Ironworks, Derby and is a variation on their Design no 16. The lamp gallery at the top of the standard may be from another manufacturer.

Reasons for Listing


The Sidney Cooper Weston Fountain, Folkestone, dating from 1897, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:


Architectural interest:

* as an example of sophisticated cast-iron architectural work developed and supplied by Andrew Handyside and Co of Derby, which had become both prolific and internationally renowned by the time of the fountain's creation;

* for the high quality of the design and aesthetic elements of the fountain.

Historic interest:

* as evidence of the esteem held for local philanthropists such as Sidney Weston Cooper during the Victorian period.

External Links

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