“There is a lion’s head water fountain in Robin Hood’s Bay but it’s probably got a different pedigree to the others you’ve featured recently,” says Geoff Fell, of Norton, Stockton, “as it was bought on eBay about ten years ago”.
Lion’s head water fountains were made by the Glenfield foundry in Kilmarnock and are to be found scattered around the world – we started off by looking at the one beside Leyburn town hall which is a listed building in its own right and there is another as far away as Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands.
Robin Hood’s Bay was supplied with water from a tank above the village which trickled down to an alcove in the stonework near the Laurel Inn on Bay Bank. The lion’s head was probably installed there in the 1880s, which was the heyday of these fountains. Then it was replaced by a tap which itself became redundant when water was piped directly into people’s homes.
The fountain, despite featuring on postcards, disappeared at some point so Geoff bought a replacement on eBay.
“I think it cost £400 and it came from Newton Aycliffe where it was an ornament in the seller’s garden,” he says.
READ MORE: Lion of Leyburn - the story behind this historic water fountain
“It had most of the workings but it was really rusted up and it took a long time to work out how it worked. Glenfield foundry still exists and is still making pumps, but they told me that, unfortunately, all the design plans for old water fountains perished in a flood years ago.”
That’s a little ironic.
“They also said we would never get it working!”
But with the help of his friends Tony Bennett and Keith Hutchinson, plus Robert Ward, the blacksmith in Carlton-in-Cleveland, Mike Gaines-Burrill, of Northern Grinding & Granulating Equipment Engineering and William Lane’s foundry in Middlesbrough, he eventually triumphed, and the North York Moors National Park paid for it to be installed.
“The fountain is 6ft tall out of the ground and very heavy,” says Geoff, who has a cottage in the Bay. “Its big selling point was that it does not freeze up in the winter. It has a valve which 'leaks' the water out of the pipework after use into the surrounding ground (very much like water companies do now!).”
Now it is back in the ground, it is quite a draw.
“It is popular,” says Geoff. “Lots of people take photographs of it.”
A postcard showing the original lion's head fountain in Robin Hood's Bay
“Eagle eyed spotters in the region need to aware that there are plenty of these lion’s head fountains about,” says Matthew Hatton, of Knaresborough.
“I was out cycling and found one in the small village of Burton Leonard, near Ripon. I am unsure if it works but it is painted a fetching pale green and looks to be very well cared for...”
Burton Leonard was once the home of David Nobbs, the creator of Reggie Perrin. So it is safe to say that Matthew didn’t get to where he is today without being able to spot a lion’s head fountain when he passes one.
Are there any other interesting fountains out there?
Geoff Fell's replacement lion's head fountain in Robin Hood's Bay
Gillamoor, near Kirkbymoorside, has a lion’s head fountain which has a hose attachment sticking out of its mouth so it looks like it is vaping, as we told a fortnight ago. This led to the tale of Joseph Foord’s remarkable water system of the 1740s and 1750s in which water appeared to flow uphill.
“I read your article on the Nawton and Beadlam watercourse with interest as you mention it crosses a beck at Bonfield Gill, the stone pillars of which are still visible,” says Andy Stokes, of East Cowton.
Indeed, Foord designed a wooden trough – perhaps a hollow tree trunk – to take water across the gill. The trough was held up by the pillars.
“In 1982, I led a group of conservation volunteers to rebuild the western abutment which had fallen down. Bob Cartwright, a conservation officer at the North York Moors National Park, had asked the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers to do the work, and we stayed in Bransdale.
“My recollection is that the water was shared at Nawton and Beadlam but not equally and it fed a trough with different sized holes based on how much each community paid.
“Most of the volunteers were new to drystone walling and yet we took down what was standing and rebuilt it in about seven days. The volunteers had paid a small fee to participate in a working holiday!
“The National Park deserves credit for protecting this for future generations to understand how difficult getting fresh water was!”
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