Parish council plans restoration of Staindrop village fountain

A HISTORIC drinking fountain may be restored to its former glory if a parish council has its way.

The fountain on the village green in Staindrop was gifted to the village by Lady Augusta Poulett in the late 1800s but has fallen into disrepair over the years.

Now, following advice from a county council conservation officer, Staindrop Parish Council is considering having it restored to its original condition.

Speaking during the council’s meeting in August, parish clerk Tom Bolton said the county’s senior conservation officer, Bryan Harris, had confirmed the overall condition of the fountain was “not too bad”.

Mr Bolton added: “The inscription is in not bad condition. Apart from some pointing, it might only benefit from a light cleaning. He says the moulded base is similar.

“The major problem is apparently the pink sandstone column which has been badly cracked from left over metal fixings.

“He said the idea would be to remove the metal and stitch and fill the cracks with an appropriate repair technique, and that would prevent the need to strip down the fountain and avoid sourcing any new pink sandstone.”

Cllr Ed Chicken gave some background into the history of the fountain confirming that it had been gifted to the village by Lady Augusta.

He said: “She seems to have been quite generous in her gifts to Staindrop. For example, she provided everyone in the almshouses with an armchair. If you think back to those days everyone sat on a wooden chair. So she clearly had a soft spot.

“It is difficult to envisage now when you can turn a tap to get clean water, but to have clean drinking water in a village was a myth.”

Mr Bolton explained that the work would not include restoring the water flow as this would cause freeze thaw weathering.

News of the potential restoration of the fountain was welcomed by 83-year-old life-long resident Arthur Edwards, who remembers the fountain was still working when he was a lad attending the local school. He said: “It would look better, there are a lot of things in Staindrop that could do with squaring up.”

Cllr Chicken urged the parish council not to spare cash on the possible restoration.

He said: “If we are going to get funds for it, we want the best job as we can, so even thought we wouldn’t want a pump to actually pump, I would like to see the housing, the handle, and the iron work all done. In my experience if you go for lottery funding there is as much work in asking for £20,000 as there is in asking for £2million. There is no difference at all.”

The council resolved to get quotations for the restoration work.