A campaign against beer and cholera
Confronted by the technical wonders at the Great Exhibition in 1851, »Punch« magazine commented that a glass of clean drinking water would be more useful than anything that was on show. In the previous 50 years, the population of London had more than doubled to 2.4 million. The old water supply from wells, streams and the polluted Thames had become hopelessly inadequate. In 1854 Dr John Snow identified contaminated drinking water as the cause of the devastating cholera epidemics. Moreover, the countless horses in the city and thousands of cattle that were driven to Smithfield Market every day also needed great quantities of water.
In 1859 Samuel Gurney, a member of Parliament, founded the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association and inaugurated its first fountain the same year. It stands by the iron fence of the church of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate. Soon 7000 people daily were using this fountain, which occupies its original site, although it was removed in 1867 when Holborn Viaduct was built and not returned until 1913. By 1870 the association was operating 140 water sources for the people of London, and had extended its activities to provide troughs for animals. The temperance movement, campaigning tirelessly against the evils of alcohol, supported this work: it was no coincidence that many fountains were built close to pubs.
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Address Corner of Holborn Viaduct and Giltspur Street, EC1A 2DQ | Public Transport St Paul’s (Central Line) | Tip In the Viaduct Tavern on the corner opposite St Sepulchre, you can order a glass of water, but a thirsty author preferred a pint of Fuller’s London Pride.
Particularly elaborate fountains can still be seen in Victoria Park in Hackney and in Victoria Tower Gardens by the Thames directly south of the Houses of Parliament. And drinking fountains are not a purely historical theme, as shown recently by the erection of one with a cool design in granite and stainless steel in the east of Hyde Park. Visitors to the park are grateful for a free drink.
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