Forum Topic

Fountains

Guy Lambert's latest newsletter mentions the old Brentford Fountain languishing in the East of our fine city.  I love a fountain and have posted here before about the Market Square fountains that played happily for a few weeks when they were installed, alongside the benches.  Those fountains featured heavily in the architects drawings about the regeneration of Brentford, with children running about and enjoying the fun of dodging the water as it cascaded down.  I have been advised by the highest authority (not God, but close) that the Market Square fountains are not Hounslow Council's responsibility but the owners of Verdict.  It is to them, then, I appeal to get those fountains playing again and provide some focus to our (very slowly) regenerating town.  With just a few more weeks of summer left, it would make such a difference to see the water splashing down, cheering people and encouraging them to sit and watch the world go by.

Cathy Jones ● 2221d24 Comments

Still at Western International Market but neglected.Photo here taken a few days ago https://www.facebook.com/BrentfordCouncillors/

Guy Lambert ● 2216d

If its stays as hot as this people will be lying under the fountnains in the Market square.I kept wondering what had happened to the lovely old fountain at the end of Kew Bridge so I went into the local library to try to find out. It was opened in 1877 and then "adopted" by the old council in 1899. In the 1970s it was moved to the new market in Hayes and it should still be there. Some people say that it was given away by the council but I wonder how this was possible.I can't put photos here but if you do a search on the internet you will see what a handsome thing it was.

Fred Heston ● 2216d

Yes, I noticed in passing today. Thank goodness for that and let's hope they continue to spout forth during the summer months at the very least (pretty at Christmas too).

Anne England ● 2216d

The structure, shape and layout, the vast majority of the bricks, some of the beams, the majority of the roof tiles (albeit they had already been replaced in the 1990s).Work was done under the supervision of Hounslow's heritage officer who worked hand in glove with Historic England, having alerted them to the previous state and had it pencilled in to the 'At Risk' register. This was avoided and it is no longer at risk.

Guy Lambert ● 2216d

Good news the fountains are working this evening.

Reg Ghosh ● 2216d

What exactly was “saved”?  All the windows, ceilings and floors were stripped out!

Reg Ghosh ● 2216d

You're wrong Neil. I first saw the concerns highlighted here (by Hazel Dakers I think) and was engaging with planners and developers the same day or the day after.I'm glad you acknowledge it was saved.

Guy Lambert ● 2217d

I beg to differ, this forum time and time again told local Cllrs about the building. It took weeks before we got any response and the building was just saved.

Neil Chippendale ● 2217d

Sarah Trimmer Hall is now structurally sound and retains its internal layout (ie a Hall). We repeatedly rejected applications to turn it into 3 flats and eventually the developer gave up and it is now on the market as a single unit. We (just) saved it from going on the Heritage at Risk register after it had been neglected for years/decades. I don't think we have anything to apologise for.

Guy Lambert ● 2217d

Keep your hair on! I have to say though Hounslow's care of our heritage has been found wanting - thinking of Sarah Trimmer's House.

Vanessa Smith ● 2218d

The toilets are still at Morrisons but they are in almost as poor condition as the old Brentford fountain. It would be really good to have the fountain back in Brentford and for the toilets to be replaced by something less uninviting.Who looks after the interests of Brentford? I'm sure that counsellors do there best but they must rely on the idecisions made by developers. By the way, what is the purpose of the hideous car park being put up opposite the supermarket?

Fred Heston ● 2218d

https://www.westerninternational.co.uk/ does still exist. It has not been dumped but was transferred to their care in 1974.Whatever 'is wrong with Hounslow' has been wrong since 1974 so it's a bit rich for a former councillor to have a go at us because we're looking at the possibility of bringing it 'home' after 45 years

Guy Lambert ● 2218d

There are still toilets in Morrisons!

Reg Ghosh ● 2218d

At which supermarket in Brentford are there toilets? I believe the ones in Morrison's got designed out some years back.

Anne England ● 2218d

As Western International market no longer exists - can Cllr. Lambert tell us exactly in whose ownership the Fountain now is? Also where has it been dumped?

Vanessa Smith ● 2219d

Thanks for that interesting description of the fountain, Vanessa. From memory I don't thing that it was a fountain that threw up sprays of water but it was meant to drink from. It was a very handsome landmark and the local council seem to have been neglectful as the adoptive parents of it.In my time there were toilets next to the fountain. That's something else that has disappeared from Brentford. In an emergency there are the toilets at the supermarket but I have seen many cleaner ones in rural China.

Fred Heston ● 2219d

Drinking Fountain. 1877. Grey granite, cast iron railings and lamp standards. It takes the form of an octagonal spire standing on a tall middle section, square in plan, with a cornice and a gabled niche to each side, within which is a trefoil-headed panel with a shell motif to the top. Projecting bowls to each side. Engaged columns to each corner. This stands on a tall base with steps to east and west, and lamp standards to each corner: these are inscribed GEO SMITH & Co SUN FOUNDRY GLASGOW. Decorative Gothic Revival railings run along the north and south sides between posts, with quatrefoil bosses to the centres of X-framed panels. The east niche bears the original inscription which reads: 'The gift of Mrs Wheeler / the widow of / SAMUEL WHEELER Esq / formerly of / Barrow Hills Chertsey Surrey / and / Brunswick Terrace Brighton / 1877 / erected by the / Drinking Fountain & Cattle Trough / Association. Within the west niche is a bronze plaque erected by the London Borough of Hounslow commemorating the opening of the Western International Market here in 1974. HISTORY: the fountain originally stood a short distance to the north-west of Kew Bridge, within Brentford Market. It was unveiled by HRH Princess Mary, Duchess of Teck, in July 1877. The fountain had been offered to the Metropolitan Board of Works for erection in central London along the Embankment, but the MBW declined; the donor was pleased to agree to the location at Kew Bridge, where it remained even after the Brentford Market was relocated to ease traffic congestion. It was legally adopted by the Brentford UDC in 1899. The fountain arrived at its present location in June 1974; the horse troughs formerly attached to the north and south sides were discarded in the process. Despite having been relocated, the fountain is a largely intact and unusually handsome example of the type. It formerly stood as a prominent Brentford landmark until its translation to Southall. SOURCES: Middlesex Chronicle, 28 July 1877; James Marshall, 'History of the Great West Road' (1995), 12.

Vanessa Smith ● 2219d

The Fountain is Grade 11 listed and has been since 2003, what is wrong with Hounslow that they can't arrange for the fountain to come back into their ownership and then to arrange for it to be given a fitting place in Brentford where it really belongs? It looks as if it's in a pretty awful state, and someone, somewhere, should feel ashamed that this has been so neglected.

Vanessa Smith ● 2219d

'East of our fine city'? That would be where the Fountain Leisure Centre is, surely?

Keith Iddon ● 2219d

Wow, that fountain is quite something - it deserves to be in a prominent position, the centre of a square, or in the middle of a round-about?  It's a stunning "Statement" of Brentford.  Don't waste it.

Jennifer Selig ● 2219d

Well said Vanessa. I recently returned to Brentford after working in warmer places for almost 40 years. I cannot belive how much much of the Brentford I knew when I was a boy has been destroyed and stolen.No one misses ugly smelly things like the old gas works but I can just about remember the lovely Vestry Hall in Half Acre - now an empty tower with no police in it. The Firestone factory was a building of some beauty, even to a young boy.I've been told that the old building next to St George's Church has been badly damaged by developers.I even remember the railway to the docks and now it seems that all that is left of that are a few bits of brick arch.My family wasn't religious but when I was very young I can remember going inside St Lawrence church for special occasions. The walls were covered with polished stones commemorating one thing or another - it was like an art gallery. I was amazed to find that the church is still standing (just) and I wonder what had happened to the stuff inside.The black boards aong the south side of the struggling High Street are not the greatest way to greet newcomers to the twon but at least they are only temporary. It's high time Brentford was given something back from its history.

Fred Heston ● 2220d

Unless I missed something that 'market square' area was paid for with public money - certainly the Mayor's office contributed, to my recollection. So please someone explain just how this got handed over to the owners of Verdict, were there no conditions included during the planning process when the Magistrate's Court was converted into posh flats and a restaurant? Re the old Brentford Fountain that stood at the junction of Kew Bridge for many years, surely there has to be some mileage in sitting on Ballymore to bring this back to Brentford along with using the lovely old St Lawrence's Church as a heritage centre, perhaps the two could be sited together? Given the development that will change Brentford into an unrecognisable town of flats and more flats, is it too much to ask that something reminiscent of Brentford as it used to be is resurrected?

Vanessa Smith ● 2221d

Oh.  Well.  I'll check back.  In another couple of weeks.  Can't take that long to get a new pump.  Surely.....

Cathy Jones ● 2221d

I understand the pump has failed and they are awaiting new parts :-(

Guy Lambert ● 2221d