Today's Object of the Week is a drinking fountain which has seen better days.
AN idea trickled into Joseph Pease's head in 1865.
He had just developed the "mural fountain' concept and stuck the first one on the wall by the entrance to his mansion in Grange Road.
Read more: How Tommy the County Durham statue won over the nation’s hearts
He thought: "Perhaps Darlington as a whole would like a complete set." So in March 1866 he offered eight to the town and the Local Government Board agreed to lay on free water.
Out of nine mural, or wall, drinking fountains, only three appear to survive. The sites of several others are not known.
All the mural fountains were built on the boundaries of properties belonging to the Pease family.
One of the most ornate of these spouters still stands at the junction of Milbank Road and Woodland Road and is today's Object of the Week.
The fountain is incorporated into a stone Romanesque arch. Spandrels on each side display the date of installation as 1866 - worn and difficult to read now, but it can just about be made out.
The cast iron arch has two wide pilasters decorated with dolphins, tridents and bulrushes.
The arch is decorated with fish-scale fret design and the Pease family crest - a dove rising, holding a pea-stalk complete with blossom and pods in its beak.
The arched faceplate contains an inscription, 'Water For The Thirsty', still clearly visible today.
The fountain was listed a Grade II historic building on September 6, 1977.
Another ornate fountain stood on Carmel Road, but thatdisappeared sometime in the 1950s.
The other wall founts were not so elaborate. They were situated in Coniscliffe Road (this one still stands), Northgate, North Road (both disappeared since the 1950s), near the gateway to the East Mount mansion in Haughton Road (disappeared when East Mount was demolished after the Second World War), and two at either end of the Bank Top Cut (vanished when the cut was widened in the 1930s).
But why did Mr Pease decide to install the fountains on walls of his properties?
In the early 1860s, several leading Quakers across the country paid for fresh water drinking fountains to be installed possibly because the cause of cholera – polluted water from stagnant wells – was becoming known.
Darlington’s fresh water was pumped by Broken scar into the town centre – a Pease initiative that made them lots of money.
Another suggestion is that they were built to promote temperance and the movement dedicated to promoting moderation and, more often, complete abstinence of alcohol.
Whatever the reason, they must have looked magnificent in their day. The ravages of time and neglect have taken their toll on the remaining fountains.
Keep up to date with all the latest news on our website, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
You can also follow our dedicated Darlington Facebook page for all the latest in the area by clicking here.
For all the top news updates from right across the region straight to your inbox, sign up to our newsletter here.
Have you got a story for us? Contact our newsdesk on newsdesk@nne.co.uk or contact 01325 505054
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel