Drinking fountain immediately north-east of the Church of the Holy Trinity

Summary

Drinking fountain, erected in 1861 to designs by SS Teulon (1812-1873).

Reasons for Designation

The drinking fountain immediately to the north-east of the Church of the Holy Trinity, Hastings, erected in 1861 to designs by SS Teulon, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* as a substantial and richly decorative piece of Victorian street furniture.

Historic interest:

* as a sculptural work by SS Teulon, who designed a number of churches, private houses and water fountains, and came to be considered by some the most important of the rogue architects of the Gothic Revival;
* reflective of a period when the provision of clean, freely accessible, drinking water was a valued, and often lavishly made, philanthropic gesture.

Group value:

* with the adjacent Grade II*- listed Church of the Holy Trinity, also by Teulon.

History

The town of Hastings has been a strategic point of defence from invasion since the medieval period and a protective wall was erected in the early 1300s. In 1337 the town was twice attacked by the French and badly damaged. Up until around 1800, there were two main streets (High Street and All Saints Street), both of which were inside the defences. The threat from France continued throughout the early 1800s and the Duke of Wellington commanded a garrison of around 12,000 troops from a headquarters in the High Street. Nevertheless, by around 1794, Hastings began to develop as a seaside resort with the publication of a printed guidebook and the development of Marine Parade.

In the mid-C19, Patrick Robertson (1807-1885) leased the crown lands of the town for 99 years at a rate of £500 per year. In 1850 he commenced construction of a grand scheme of terraces and municipal buildings, located across Robertson Street, Carlisle Parade and Robertson Terrace, collectively known as Trinity Triangle. The railway arrived in the same year and during the C19, the population of Hastings grew from around 3,000 to 65,000.

The rapid expansion of the town, and its gradual amalgamation with James Burton’s planned resort town of St Leonards-on-Sea, created demand for new places of worship. Local philanthropists funded the construction of the Church of the Holy Trinity, designed by Samuel Sanders Teulon (1812-1873) and built between 1857 and 1862. The drinking fountain was erected in 1861, also to designs by Teulon. He was the eldest son of a cabinet-maker and of Huguenot descent. After setting up practice in London in 1838, he developed a ‘vigorous and idiosyncratic Gothic style’ and came to be considered the most important of the rogue architects of the Gothic Revival. One of Teulon's best-known and later works was the Buxton Memorial (NHLE entry 1066151; Grade II*) a drinking fountain executed for Charles Buxton and located in Victoria Gardens, London.

In 1870, the Hastings drinking fountain was recorded as being ‘adorned with figures of Christ and the woman of Samaria, and of the four evangelists’, although, with the exception of the central figure of Christ, these sculptures have now been lost or have eroded beyond recognition.

During the Second World War, Hastings was bombed several times resulting in the death of around 154 people and the damage or total destruction of some 15,000 buildings. Post-war, the town remained a popular holiday destination until the advent of cheap foreign travel in the later C20. Falling visitor numbers were exacerbated by the decline of the town’s small trades and industries.

Details

Drinking fountain, erected in 1861 to the designs of SS Teulon (1812-1873).

MATERIALS: carved Portland stone with recessed polished granite panels and marble columns.

DETAILS: the fountain is of neo-Gothic design and comprises a large square pedestal with recessed granite panels on three of the four faces, which carry inscriptions. Below each panel is a moulded fountain bowl set upon a short column and capital bearing a cross on the shaft. Set into the fourth face of the pedestal, facing the Church of the Holy Trinity, there is a timber panelled door under a three-pointed arch. Upon the pedestal sits a finely carved canopy consisting of a crocketed pinnacle and gables supported on four marble columns with floral capitals and finials above. The top stage of the spire is missing and within the canopy, there are denuded figures including a sculpture of Jesus. The partial remains of the finials sit upon three of the four corners of the pedestal.

The inscriptions on the three recessed granite panels read (north face): ‘ERECTED 1861 BY SUBSCRIPTION BY THE INHABITANTS OF HASTINGS AND ST LEONARDS INCLUDING THE PENCE OF CHILDREN AND YOUNG PERSONS EDUCATED IN THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS’; (north-east face): ‘JESUS SAID WHOSOEVER DRINKETH OF THIS WATER SHALL THIRST AGAIN BUT WHOSOEVER DRINKETH OF THE WATER THAT I SHALL GIVE HIM SHALL NEVER THIRST’; (south-east face): ‘TO SARAH COUNTESS OF WALDEGRAVE IN GRATEFUL COMMEMORATION OF THE CONSTANT SUPPORT AFFORDED BY HER TO THE RELIGIOUS AND BENEVOLENT INSTITUTIONS OF THE BOROUGH AND NEIGHBOURHOOD’.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

294095

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Salzman, L F, The Victoria History of the County of Sussex - The Rape of Hastings - Volume 09, (1937), .
Antram, N, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Sussex East with Brighton and Hove, (2013), .
Marchant, R, Hastings Past, (1997), .

Websites
The Victorian Web, accessed 4 May 2023 from https://victorianweb.org/art/architecture/teulon/index.html

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