Nostalgia: Thirst for fountains

Published on Saturday 25 October 2008 10:54

With drinking fountains set to make a revival we look back at some famous examples

ONCE they were a common sight around the streets of Edinburgh. In the days before people carried small plastic bottles of pricey mineral water everywhere, liquid refreshment came in the form of communal, but free, water fountains.

Obviously they had their disadvantages – as this small boy discovered in the winter of 1980 when he attempted to get a drink out of a out of a frozen fountain on Frederick Street.

But such fountains could be due to make a comeback in a bid to get more people into the outdoors. The new idea is to site fountains in parks to encourage more people to take up jogging.

If the proposal does become a reality, it will be back to the future for such fountains. It was in the 1800s that philanthropist Catherine Sinclair introduced drinking fountains around Edinburgh for the use of the horses that pulled the cabs, the working men and dogs.

Some date even further back – St Margaret's Well in Holyrood Park moved to its present location beneath Salisbury Crags in 1860, but was originally built in Restalrig in medieval times.

The famous Witches Well drinking fountain on the Royal Mile commemorates the 300 or so women found guilty of witchcraft and executed at the Esplanade between 1479 and 1722.

Drinking fountains aren't the only watery feature spurting up in the news. This week it was revealed that the Ross Fountain had to be closed over fears of an outbreak of the bug which causes legionnaires disease. Officials ordered the shut-down when it was discovered there weren't sufficient chlorine levels to prevent any bugs from spreading.

But at least the Ross Fountain still exists – we've waved goodbye to a number over the years. In the 1960s two decorative fountains were installed on either side of the Scott Monument, and Waverley Market, now Princes Mall, once had cascading jets of water to entertain diners in its food court.

Others have resisted being washed away. Linlithgow Palace's is the oldest working fountain in the UK.