The Fountain Society

Information

Following the agreement of the Trustees of the Fountain Society and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, the Fountain Society will be passing its assets across to this larger charity, who have very similar objectives in terms of encouraging the creation of new and preserving the best of existing public fountains, sculptures and monuments across the UK.

The joint association will have three times the membership of the Fountain Society and we hope very much you would care to join. If you would like to do so, please look at the PMSA website http://www.pmsa.org.uk/ which shows the current membership categories.

We are maintaining a separate Fountain Society website for the next two or three years and will extend any information of particular interest to those involved with fountains. We will also continue to build a database of fountains across the UK but our recruitment of new members to the Foutain Socirty has now ceased. .

The Society's Objectives

  • To secure the creation, conservation and restoration of fountains, cascades, waterfalls, water jets and all similar works of aesthetic merit, historic significance or pure fun for public and private enjoyment.
  • To promote the provision of both indoor and outdoor fountains, particularly at new developments in or on public, local authority, education, health, business and private premises to which the public have access.
  • In a world where water will become an increasingly scarce commodity, we hope to strengthen the links between our culture and others, where water has been used for generations as part of their architectural and design heritage, to encourage creative thinking about the artistic use and recycling of water.
  • To these ends we aim to promote research and teaching and publish information concerning the design, construction, maintainance and restoration of fountains, cascades, waterfalls and other water based features, principally in the UK, but reaching out to Europe and the world.

A literary piece by JB Priestley in his 1949 William Heinemann publication "Delight"

FOUNTAINS, I doubt if I ever saw one, even the smallest without some tingling delight.They enchant me in the daytime, when the sunlight ennobles their jets and sprays and turns their scattered drops into diamonds.They enchant me after dark when coloured lights are played on them, and the night rains emeralds, rubies, sapphires, And best of all, when the last colour is whisked away, and there they are in dazzling white glory!

The richest memory I have of the Bradford Exhibition of my boyhood, better than even the waterchute or the Somali Village or the fireworks, is of the Fairy Fountain, which changed colour to the waltzes of the Blue Hungarian Band, and was straight out of the Arabian nights. And I believe my delight in these magical jets of water, the invention of which does credit to our whole species, is shared by ninety-nine persons out of every hundred.

But where are they, these fountains we love? We hunger for them and are not fed. A definite issue could be made out of this, beginning with letters to the Times, continuing with meetings and unanimous resolutions and deputations to Downing Street, and ending if necessary with processions and mass demonstrations and some rather ugly scenes.

What is the use of our being told that we live in a democracy if we want fountains and have no fountains? Expensive? The cost is trifling compared to that of so many idiotic things we are given and do not want. Our towns are crammed with all manner of rubbish that no people in their senses ever asked for, yet where are the fountains?

By all means let us have a policy of full employment, increased production, no gap between exports and imports, social security, a balanced This and a planned That, but let us also have fountains - more and more fountains - higher and higher fountains - fountains like wine, like blue and green fire, fountains like diamonds - rainbows in every square. Crazy? Probably. But with hot wars and cold wars we have already tried going drearily mad. Why not try going delightfully mad? Why not stop spouting ourselves and let it be done for us by graceful fountains, exquisite fountains, beautiful fountains?