Victorian drinking fountain is back in action after heritage restoration

A Victorian drinking fountain on Kensington High Street that was installed over a century ago has been restored to working order.

The stone fountain was installed next to the Public Library in 1900 and paid for by the local Temperance Society, which was dedicated to promoting drinking water over alcohol.

The idea for the free drinking fountain emerged from the St. Mary Abbot’s Temperance Society in 1898 when the Rev Canon Pennefather applied for permission to errect a new pedestal drinking fountain on Kensington High Street. At a meeting of the vestry, the Vicar observed that as the High Street has numerous places where refreshments of “other kinds” could be obtained, he thought it was only right that there should be at least one place where people could obtain water instead.

As it happens, a drinking fountain was nearby, also installed at some point by the Temperance Society. However, it was damaged by lighting in 1897 and seemingly still broken in 1899, so rather than repairing it, the Society decided to build another one.

Which seems an odd way of dealing with the matter.

Anyway, the new fountain was designed by the local architect, Mr H Wilson. Although the cost is unknown, there is a reference to it costing £18 more than originally planned – that’s circa £2,000 in today’s money.

It was installed in 1900 and has stood there ever since, but like its predecessor, it has long since failed to produce a drop of water. It’s now been restored and repaired by the Heritage Trust of London, and it provided its first sip of water last month.

The restoration work, carried out by London Stone Conservation, included replacing missing stonework, including the carved cross on top, reinscribing lettering, and installing brand new piping and taps.

It’s not known when the cross at the top was lost, but you can just about see the fountain next to the bus stop in this 1957 photo (need to zoom in a lot). It seems that the cross was missing then, so it was likely missing for longer than it had existed. And now, at least 70 years after it vanished, the cross is back.

A new plaque on the side celebrates the restoration work, which was completed just under 125 years after it was first installed here.

As a random aside, the locked doors behind the fountain used to lead to some public toilets, so you could have emptied your bladder and topped it back up again at the same location.