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The Ross
Fountain
in West Princes Street Gardens, beneath
Edinburgh Castle
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The plaque beside the Ross Fountain in West Princes Street
Gardens reads:
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THE ROSS FOUNTAIN Made of cast-iron at
the foundry of ANTOINE DURENNE near Paris France was shown at the
Exhibition of 1862 in London
DANIEL ROSS, a local gunmaker interested
in art and natural science bought and gifted it to the City of
Edinburgh. It was shipped to Scotland in 122 pieces. It
arrived at Leith
in September 1869, and was finally installed in West Princes
Street Gardens in 1872.
The figures were sculptured by
JEAN-BAPTISTE KLAGMANN who also made works for the Louvre and
Medici fountains in Paris.
The first tier has a lion's head
spouts and mermaid figures with flowering urns sitting on
scallop-shell basins. The four upper figures depict Science,
Art, Poetry and Industry. At the top a beautifully modelled
figure holds a cornucopia-cup of plenty.
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Water - ON, OFF, ON, OFF, ON
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Here is the recent history of whether or not the fountain has
been working:
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OFF
Edinburgh Council switched off
the water supply to the fountain in 1996, claiming that the
fountain had become too expensive to run and was using too
much water. |
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ON
In 2001, following a campaign, the fountain was fully restored in a
collaboration between The City of Edinburgh Council and East of
Scotland Water.
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OFF
The water in the fountain
stopped in late 2004, the result of a fire that destroyed
the electricity supply source for the fountain. |
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ON?
The Deputy Lord Provost, Steve
Cardownie, who led the campaign for the 2001 restoration,
said in July 2005 that he intended to take steps to get the
fountain working again |
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Edinburgh Evening News: several
articles, including 5 July 2005, p.11 |
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ON?
The culture and leisure leader
in Edinburgh City Council, Councillor Ricky Henderson, is
quoted in the Edinburgh Evening News on 4 Jan 2006 as saying
that power is now being reinstated to the fountain,
following the fire that destroyed the old power supply at
Christmas 2004. He added:
"Some further remedial work is
to be carried out over the winter months. The Ross
fountain is normally switched off during the winter for
health and safety reasons, and the council expects it to be
switched on in all its former glory in the spring."
Edinburgh Evening News: January 4, 2006, p.10 |
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ON
In fact a new pump had to be ordered for the fountain, so
it was not until July 2006 that the fountain was turned on
again.
Edinburgh Evening News: July 13, 2006, p.10 |
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ON
The water was still flowing, and the fountain was looking
good when I photographed it in September 2007.
- Peter Stubbs:
September 20, 2007
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