Sidney Cooper Weston 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.

Reasons for Designation

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.

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.

Details

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.

Sources

Websites
Memorial Drinking Fountains - Sidney Cooper Weston Fountain, accessed 4 September 2018 from https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2016/12/02/sidney-cooper-weston-fountain/

Other
Go Folkestone, The Sidney Cooper Weston drinking fountain 1897: Project proposal (January 2018)

End of official list entry

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