Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1887 to 1887

Monument Types

• SITE (Post Medieval - 1887 AD to 1887 AD)

Full description

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Summary
A Gothic style stone drinking fountain, erected in 1887 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and moved to its present location around 2005.

Reasons for Designation
The Drinking Fountain opposite 7 Mount Pleasant, originally erected opposite 156 London Road in 1887 and re-erected in its current location around 2005, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest: * it is a good example of Victorian street furniture, constructed from quality materials and subtly enriched with Gothic motifs.

Historic interest: * it was erected to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887; * it is reflective of the efforts made across the country in the second half of the C19 to provide publicly-accessible, clean drinking water.

History
The drinking fountain was erected in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee, and to provide clean drinking water to the village of Hildenborough. The drinking fountain first appears on the 1:2500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map of 1897 in its original location on the south side of London Road (now Tonbridge Road), opposite Number 156. The fountain was originally surrounded on three sides by short, cast iron railings with fleur-de-lis finials. Around 2005 the fountain was relocated a short distance to its present location on the village green opposite Number 7 Mount Pleasant and the railings were removed.

The fountain itself was manufactured by J Tylor and Sons Limited, sanitary engineers and iron and brass founders based in London. The company was established in about 1778 by John Tylor (d 1818) and continued by his sons under various company names. In the early C20 the company expanded into the production of petrol motors. Following several mergers, the firm was eventually incorporated into the General Electric Company in 1975.

The latter part of the C19 saw a proliferation of public drinking fountains. Measures to reduce the spread of cholera in the 1850s led to the closure of town and village pumps and the erection of fountains to supply clean drinking water in public places. This was supported by the Temperance Movement, who saw the provision of clean water as helpful to the cause of reducing alcohol consumption. Accordingly, fountains were often deliberately sited near to public houses; the original location for the Hildenborough drinking fountain may have been chosen for its proximity to the Half Moon Public House. Romanesque and Gothic styles were often favoured in the design of drinking fountains, the ecclesiastical resonances being considered suitable for an amenity associated with temperance, charity, and purity. Both the Golden and Diamond Jubilees of Queen Victoria prompted huge public interest in commemorative civic monuments including drinking fountains, with many stone examples erected in villages and towns across the country.

Details
A Gothic style stone drinking fountain, erected in 1887 to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria and moved to its present location around 2005.

MATERIALS: Portland stone and pink granite.

PLAN & DESCRIPTION: the drinking fountain is square on plan. It comprises a Portland stone superstructure with gables to all four sides, supported on a battered and coped base, also of Portland stone. The fountain itself is housed in a trefoil-headed niche to the north-west (front) elevation, with the words THE JUBILEE OF QUEEN VICTORIA inscribed above. Above this is a quatrefoil panel with an inscribed date of 1887. Within the niche there is a bowl and a fountain-back of pink, polished granite and a metal spout mechanism with cast letters reading: J. TYLOR AND SONS LTD, 2 NEWGATE ST. LONDON. (1)

<1> Historic England, National Heritage List for England (Index). SKE29372.

Sources and further reading