A STATELY home is celebrating the 150th anniversary of one of its most spectacular features.

The Atlas Fountain has dominated the south front of Castle Howard, near Malton, North Yorkshire, since 1853.

In October that year, Georgiana, the dowager Countess of Carlisle, and her two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, watched as landscape architect William Andrews Nesfield and his engineer turned on the water to feed the fountain for the first time.

Its water supply originates from a local stream that is pumped uphill into a reservoir, which lies in Ray Wood, 60ft to 70ft above the South Parterre.

Gravity then carries the water downhill, through the two sets of cast-iron pipes to power the jets on the fountain and on the main fountain on the South Lake, built at the same time.

The Atlas Fountain was recently voted amongst the top five fountains in Britain by national magazine, Water Gardener.

And as part of the anniversary celebrations children are being asked to design a birthday card, using drawings, paintings, or collages of the fountain.

The winner will receive a gold family season ticket for next year, which is worth more than £100.

Entries can be sent to Nicole Hingley, Castle Howard, York, YO60 7DA by October 31.