Old Cumbria Gazetteer |
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| Moore Memorial Fountain, Wigton | ||
| Moore Memorial Fountain | ||
| Street:- | Market Place | |
| locality:- | Wigton | |
| civil parish:- | Wigton (formerly Cumberland) | |
| county:- | Cumbria | |
| locality type:- | memorial | |
| locality type:- | drinking fountain | |
| coordinates:- | NY25494839 | |
| 1Km square:- | NY2548 | |
| 10Km square:- | NY24 | |
| references:- | Listed Buildings 2010 |
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 BNN98.jpg Erected in memory of his first wife, 1871, displacing the well loved village pump. (taken 11.4.2007)  BYV76.jpg (taken 27.7.2013)  BYV77.jpg (taken 27.7.2013)  BYV78.jpg (taken 27.7.2013)  BYV79.jpg (taken 27.7.2013)  BYV80.jpg (taken 27.7.2013) |
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| evidence:- | database:- Listed Buildings 2010 placename:- Moore Memorial Fountain |
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| source data:- | courtesy of English Heritage "MOORE MEMORIAL FOUNTAIN / / MARKET PLACE / WIGTON / ALLERDALE / CUMBRIA / II / 72040 / NY2549148386" |
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| source data:- | courtesy of English Heritage "Drinking fountain memorial. 1872-3 by J.T. Knowles with panels by Thomas Woolner; inscribed THIS MEMORIAL WAS ERECTED BY GEORGE MOORE OF WHITEHALL, HIGH SHERIFF OF CUMBERLAND AD 1872, IN LOVING MEMORY OF HIS WIFE, ELIZA, WHO DIED ON THE 4TH OF DECEMBER, 1858. Polished Shap granite; aluminium bronze panels; gilt decoration. Square base with projecting fountain bowls on each face. Stepped plinth and square shaft, with panel on each face representing the Acts of Mercy, 340 separate castings by Messrs Hardman of Birmingham to designs by Woolner. Egg and tongue decorated cornice, under 4 pediments enclosing medallion busts of Mrs Moore also by Woolner. Pyramid spire with angle decorations and each face cut away in a foliated gilded pattern; ball and cross gilded bronze finial. Cost L12,000. See T.W. Carrick, History of Wigton, 1949, pp161-3." |
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 BYV75.jpg (taken 27.7.2013) |
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| hearsay:- |
The water comes from Boiling Springs, Bolton Park. When first released it jetted high
over the roof of the King's Arms. |
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| The idea for clean water came from Eliza Moore, wife of George Moore, at a time when
fear of cholera was high, with a consequent concern for improving sanitation. The
Temperance movement also prompted the desire for a better water supply; a neighbour
of the Moores was Sir Wilfrid Lawson, president of the United Alliance of Temperance
Societies. Delays from getting permissions and making compensations meant that the
fountain was not finished till 1873, 15 years after Eliza Moore had died. |
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| "And quenching his thirst may the drunkard here find Nature's best beverage, what Nature designed." |
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| The fountain was designed by James T Knowles, and decorated with panels by the sculptor
Thomas Woolner - 'Visiting the Afflicted', 'Instructing the Ignorant', 'Clothing the
Naked', and 'Feeding the Hungry'. |
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