QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN

QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN, AT JUNCTION OF BLOOMFIELD ROAD WITH WELLSWAY A367

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395432
Date first listed:: 13-May-2010
List Entry Name:: QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN
Statutory Address:: QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN, AT JUNCTION OF BLOOMFIELD ROAD WITH WELLSWAY A367

User submitted image — Uploaded by David Lovell This photo may not represent the current condition of the site. Almost 350,000 images and stories have been added to the Missing Pieces Project so far. Share your story.
View all

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions.

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1395432
Date first listed:: 13-May-2010
Date of most recent amendment:: 15-Oct-2010
List Entry Name:: QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN
Statutory Address 1:: QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN, AT JUNCTION OF BLOOMFIELD ROAD WITH WELLSWAY A367

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: QUEEN VICTORIA JUBILEE WATER FOUNTAIN, AT JUNCTION OF BLOOMFIELD ROAD WITH WELLSWAY A367

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Bath and North East Somerset (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: ST 74590 63773

Details

At Junction of Bloombury Road with Wellsway A367

Queen Victoria Jubilee Water Fountain

II

13/05/10

DESCRIPTION: A drinking fountain, believed to have been erected in 1897, constructed of limestone, with elements of pink granite and grey granite. The style of the fountain is an eclectic mixture of Romanesque, Gothic and Baroque; its structure comprises a niche set within a limestone surround, with volutes supporting an ogee arch, which terminates in a fleur-de-lis crocket finial. The niche is framed by colonnettes of pink granite, with grey granite bases and limestone stiff-leaf capitals (one of these is damaged), from which rises a trefoil arch within a round-headed arch, with foliate carving to the cusps. The projecting basin is of pink granite; the grey granite tablet from which water originally issued carries inset metal lettering, reading: 'TO COMMEMORATE / QUEEN VICTORIA'S / 60 YEARS REIGN / 1837-1897'.

HISTORY: The drinking fountain was erected in 1897 to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, and to provide clean drinking water in an area undergoing expanding development. The fountain occupies a prominent position at the north end of the gardens separating the early-C19 terrace of 2-28 Bloomfield Road (q.v.) from the villas occupying this stretch of Wellsway, which were built at about the same time as the fountain; Wellsway follows the course of the former Roman Road, the Fosse Way. In the first part of the C20, a further amenity was provided in the form of subterranean public conveniences with railings, which were constructed in front of the fountain. At the time of listing (2010) the fountain has been out of use for many years.

The latter part of the C19 saw a great proliferation of public drinking fountains, erected to combat water-borne diseases and alcoholism amongst the poor. For many, it was more difficult to obtain clean drinking water than alcohol; in 1851, the magazine Punch, commenting on the Great Exhibition, observed that, 'Whoever can produce in London a glass of water fit to drink will contribute the rarest and most universally useful article in the whole exhibition'. The Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association erected the first public drinking fountain in 1859, on the boundary fence of St Sephulchre's Church, Snow Hill, City of London; a fountain in a similar, Romanesque, style, appeared in Walcot Street, Bath, in 1861, and many others followed, given by philanthropic associations, and individuals. This fountain is a good example of the free, and often polychromatic, Romanesque and Gothic styles which were much favoured in the design of drinking fountains, the ecclesiastical resonances being considered suitable for an amenity associated with temperance, charity, and purity.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION The drinking fountain, erected to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1897, is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historical interest: as a good example of a late-C19 drinking fountain, erected to promote public health, and commemorate an event of national significance * Sculptural interest: for a design which brings considered use of decoration and materials to a primarily functional structure * Group value: for its relationship with nearby listed buildings Listing NGR: ST7459063773

The asset was previously listed twice also at List entry 1395632. This entry was removed from the List on 18th November 2015.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 510837
Legacy System:: LBS

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.