WE live in the era of the locomotive, of the electric telegraph, and of the steam press…’ stated the Art Journal in April 1860, yet ‘even now we are not advanced far beyond such experimental efforts as may eventually lead us to provide supplies of pure water… to meet the requirements of our dense populations.’ Victorian workers were forced to spend money on beer and gin because, for all the benefits of industrialisation, water supplies remained erratic and heavily polluted. Temperance campaigners argued that reliance on alcohol was at the root of social problems, including poverty, crime, and destitution.
Free public drinking fountains were hailed as an important part of the solution. Indeed, the Art Journal reported how people crossing London and the suburbs, ‘can scarcely avoid noticing the numerous fountains which are everywhere rising, almost as it would seem, by magic, into existence’. These new articles of street furniture were erected by the goodwill of many individual donors, who sought to improve public morality through a fountain’s design, as well as its function. Many styles, decorative symbols, sculptural programmes and materials were marshalled towards this aim, leaving an astonishingly varied legacy.
Denne historien er fra June 29, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 29, 2022-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
