Drinking Fountains
Relocation of Victorian fountain near St Paul's Cathedral
St Lawrence Jewry Memorial Fountain, to be referred to in these
pages as the St Lawrence Fountain, was
designed by architect John Robinson and the bronze sculpture was
carried out by the artist Joseph Durham, and erected in 1866
outside the church of St Lawrence Jewry.
During the redevelopment of the Guildhall in the 1970’s, the
fountain was dismantled, but one of the planning permission
conditions of the redevelopment was that the fountain should be
re-erected. The dismantled fountain was left in the bomb site of
the Guildhall Art Gallery for approximately 15 years and then
stored on pallets in a barn at Great Gregories Farm, in Epping. The
two sculptures, the figures of St Lawrence and St Mary Magdalene
and a bas relief of Moses striking the Rock were stored at the
Guildhall Art Gallery. The sculptures and bas relief are now stored
by Rupert Harris Conservation. The stones have been relocated and
are now stored in a safe and secure environment, in a store in
Chichester.
The work will involve the rebuilding of the St Lawrence Jewry
Memorial Fountain at the East end of Carter Lane, including
repairs, conservation and replacement of missing and badly damaged
sections with new carved stone.
A drinking facility will also be provided as part of the
proposals, which will be a simple and modern push-button design to
meet current environmental health standards.
The restoration and rebuilding work will be carried out by
Cathedral Works Organisation (Chichester) Ltd, which successfully
completed the relocation of Temple Bar in 2004 and more recently the
restoration of the Monument for the City of London.
The restoration is being filmed and photographed by Harris
Digital Productions and will be shown on these web pages over the
next 12 months to show work in progress and updated information
about the project.