Earlsdon Drinking Fountain

Earlsdon Avenue, Earlsdon, Coventry

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

Overview

A C19 cast-iron drinking fountain. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1443610
Date first listed:: 15-May-2017
List Entry Name:: Earlsdon Drinking Fountain
Statutory Address:: Earlsdon Avenue, Earlsdon, Coventry

User submitted image — Uploaded by Historic England West Listing Team This photo may not represent the current condition of the site
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:: 1443610
Date first listed:: 15-May-2017
List Entry Name:: Earlsdon Drinking Fountain
Statutory Address 1:: Earlsdon Avenue, Earlsdon, Coventry

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:: Earlsdon Avenue, Earlsdon, Coventry

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

District:: Coventry (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SP3238777636

Summary

A C19 cast-iron drinking fountain.

Reasons for Designation

The drinking fountain in Earlsdon, Coventry is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: as a structure erected as part of an effort to provide the citizens of Coventry with a supply of clean drinking water, in an era of growing awareness of public health;

* Design interest: as a high quality and ornate structure with good standards of applied design;

* Rarity: as one of two surviving drinking fountains nationally manufactured by the firm George Smith & Co, the other, located in Harwich, Essex, is listed at Grade II. This is the only known operational example.

History

Drinking fountains were installed in towns and cities across England from the mid-C19 in an effort to supply clean water to the people. This was part of a growing awareness of the importance of public health in the Victorian era. The need for clean drinking water was further highlighted by the discovery that cholera was a water-borne disease in the early 1850s.

The drinking fountain in Earlsdon was manufactured in the 1860s by the firm George Smith & Co at their Sun Foundry in Glasgow. The fountain was erected in around 1870 and was originally sited in the centre of Coventry, outside the Church of St John the Baptist. It was moved to its current location in 1921 following the opening of the nearby war memorial park. The fountain remained in use until the 1970s. The fountain was restored by a local community group after securing funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2015. As part of this work, the water supply was re-established to the fountain, it was re-painted black with gold detailing and water taps and a finial were both reinstated. At this time the fountain was also positioned approximately two metres further away from the road.

Details

A cast-iron drinking fountain manufactured by George Smith & Co, Glasgow in the 1860s; originally sited outside the Church of St John the Baptist, Coventry in around 1870, moved to its current position on Earlsdon Avenue in 1921.

MATERIALS: cast-iron with brass water taps.

DESCRIPTION: an octagonal structure sitting on a tapered plinth with a concave waist. There is a water bowl to the west and east faces, each with a brass water tap above, and there are also two openings at the base of the structure that serve as water basins for animals. The structure is topped by an ogee cupola with a gold-painted acorn finial and an embossed motif incorporating a fleur-de-lis to the north, east, south and west faces. The band below the cupola has decorative bolts at regular intervals that have been painted gold.

Sources

Websites
Coventry Historic Environment Record: Drinking fountain, Earlsdon Avenue South, Coventry, accessed 16 January 2017 from http://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCT765&resourceID=1029

Legal

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