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After the Brighton Town Commissioners rejected the idea of erecting a fountain to honour the new Queen’s accession in 1837, a local surgeon, John Cordy Burrows, placed a private commission with Amon Wilds, who was responsible for much of Brighton and Hove’s finest Regency architecture. With the aid of a public subscription of £1,100, augmented by the proceeds of a night at the theatre, a concert at the Town Hall and a Grand Fancy Bazaar, the fountain was built in 1846 and unveiled to mark the Queen’s 27th birthday. Burrows was mayor of Brighton three times and knighted in 1873. The Sarsen stones, blocks of grey sandstone possible deposited by glaciers, incorporated into the base of the fountain, were dug up by workmen digging a trench for a new gas main and it is thought that the name Steine, from the Scandinavian for ‘place of stones’, derives from their discovery.
Title
Victoria Fountain
Date
1846
Medium
cast iron & Sarsen stones
Measurements
H 975 x W (?) x D (?) cm
Accession number
BN1_LS_S038
Acquisition method
commissioned by John Cordy Burrows
Work type
Water fountain, trough or pump
Work status
extant
Listing status
Grade II (England and Wales)
Unveiling date
24th May 1846
Listing date
13/10/52
Access
at all times
Signature/marks description
on base of basin, south side: A. H. WILDS ARCHITECT
Inscription description
plaque on south side: TO COMMEMORATE THE VISIT OF / H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES / PRESIDENT OF THE FOUNTAIN SOCIETY / ON 25TH MAY 1995 / TO MARK THE RESTORATION OF / THE VICTORIA FOUNTAIN / WITH FUNDING BY BRIGHTON COUNCIL / AND GRANT AID FROM / ENGLISH HERITAGE; metal plaque on basin, south side: VICTORIA FOUNTAIN / RESTORED 1994 / BY DOROTHEA LTD / BUXTON DERBYSHIRE / Tel 0298 79121; granite, chequered plaque in front of base, north side: FOUNTAIN INTERNATIONAL / PROMOTING THE HEALING / OF PEOPLE AND / COMMUNITIES / USING SPIRITUAL / AND EARTH ENERGIES. / FOUNDED HERE ON / ST. MICHAELS DAY 1981
