New Drinking Fountain on Well Street Common

Posted 18th June 2010

Press release June 2010

Well Street Common User group are delighted to announce that the new drinking fountain is now installed in the centre of Well Street Common, Hackney E9

It was unveiled at the recent May Festival, has been in use for a month and is now ready for a formal ‘opening’ –so that all who have been involved can be thanked.

There was previously a fountain on the site - installed due to public demand by local residents in the late 1880s. Water was turned off during a drought in the mid 1970s, and after subsequent damage it was removed. When WSCUG was formed in 2002 it was one of the first longterm aims that a new fountain should be designed for the Common. The new fountain uses the same location as the original.

The drinking fountain was commissioned by London Borough of Hackney and WSCUG, and funded by Section 106 (Planning Gain) money. It was designed and installed by John Fortnum, sculptor and a local resident. Mark Julian, architect and local resident attended meetings and gave invaluable advice, helped with the specification and practical advice on the installation.

Casting of the central column and the animals was done from moulds made by John Fortnum, by East Coast Casting Company, of Norfolk. Danny helped John with the installation, mixing cement and laying of pebbles.

Hackney Council surveyor Gary Smith organised the laying of a new feeder main and all the site preparation works, with contractor Brendan and John of JFC Services. Caroline Gregory, Secretary of WSCUG, represented the group in the planning and execution of the project.

John Fortnum has worked on public projects all over Great Britain creating in wood, metal, concrete and stone. In 2006 at a WSCUG meeting, he gave a presentation showing slides of his work, and was subsequently given a brief for the project and asked to do some preparatory drawings. WSCUG sought a sculptural solution, as a new centrepiece for the Common.

When the lottery award was made, Hackney Council agreed for the project to go forward.

The drinking fountain consists of a central column, the shape based on a droplet of falling water, topped by a brass ball from which the water flows -the push button tap has a timed cutoff. John Fortnum cast the brass ball in his own workshop, from salvaged bath taps.It is guarded by 8 unique bollards in the forms of frog, hare, squirrel, seagull, eagle, snake, owl, heron –all of cast iron. The pieces are all located on a circular, which incorporates a bowl from which dogs & birds can drink, and has a swirling design set in concrete of polished black pebbles and Dorset cobbles.

The new drinking fountain has become the central focus of the Common. It sits well in the landscape, and the brass sphere glows in the evening light. The whole community is enjoying it: children pausing on their way to school, boys on bikes stopping to fill a plastic water bottle, cyclists in lycra on the way to work, a gaggle of starlings having a bath, mothers & buggies on their way home, dogs & their owners quenching their thirst on a hot day, kids squirting each other on a sunny Sunday, families picnicking nearby at the weekend.