Fresh drinking water returns to Christ Church fountain

Fresh drinking water has been restored to the Victorian water fountain in Christ Church Gardens, Southwark.

This morning (13 March) Dr Nicola Stacey welcomed HOLT supporters including staff from Southwark Council, Delancey, the Metropolitan Public Gardens Association, Bankside Open Spaces Trust; congregation members from Christ Church Southwark, and pupils from Snowfields Primary School to the unveiling of the restored Christ Church fountain.

‘It’s my absolute pleasure to unveil this beautiful fountain here in Christ Church Gardens,’ said Dr Nicola Stacey. ‘When we first took on this project, there was no running water from the fountain, the structure itself was sinking into the ground, and the roof had been damaged by a falling tree. Worst of all, an ugly steel basin had been added. 

‘Today, as you can see, the lovely slate roof has been restored, the fountain’s foundations have been repaired, and thanks to our colleagues at London Stone Conservation, there’s a beautiful, newly carved stone bowl below the working taps.’

Nicola thanked Southwark Council and Delancey for their support with this project, the 14th drinking fountain restored by HOLT to date. She also commended the local school pupils for the posters, artworks and sculptures they created in response to the Christ Church Fountain project, as part of the Proud Places youth engagement scheme.

Councillor Portia Mwangangye commented:

“It was a pleasure to work with Heritage of London Trust on the restoration of Christ Church fountain. The fountain sits in Christ Church Gardens, an important local green space that provides the community of Southwark with a restful enclave amongst the hustle and bustle of the cityscape.”

Find out more about the history and the restoration project of the Christ Church fountain here.

Read press coverage of the unveiling by Londonist, South London News, Southwark News and on Ian Visits. The story was featured on BBC London News as part of their morning and evening bulletins on Thursday 13th March.

Whittington Stone

On a glorious Sunday morning, the Mayors of all London boroughs, led by the Lord Mayor, joined us to launch the upcoming restoration of the Whittington Stone in Highgate.

This much loved monument to the iconic Londoner Dick Whittington will shortly begin restoration, including stone repairs and recut lettering, a cleaned ‘Dick Whittington cat’ and refurbished and repainted railings. There will be an interpretation panel on the adjacent wall. Over 150 young people have already been involved in the project through our Proud Places programme and more will visit the stonemasons at work. 

Dr Nicola Stacey praised the Mayors for their commitment to local heritage all across the city and thanked Islington Council for their support for this project.

Local resident Joanna Whittington said: "We are delighted about this project to restore the Whittington Stone. The story and the monument mean a huge amount to Londoners and we are glad to be associated by name with such an illustrious man!"

Led by the Lord Mayor, all the Mayors of London walk every year along the route of Dick Whittington’s walk into London, an event organised by the Lord Mayor’s Association. The project will start in April, generously supported by Knight Frank.

Big Issue

HOLT’s Director Dr Nicola Stacey has an opinion piece on Public Art in this week’s Big Issue.

"These public sculptures embed in people’s lives and experiences in the way that many art collections, wonderful as they are, cannot."

Nicola writes of the enormous social impact of public art for communities, particularly as part of local housing developments, and calls for more support for public art schemes to create “the heritage of generations in the future.”

Pick one up today!

Online article: https://www.bigissue.com/culture/art/london-post-war-public-art/