Hard work continues to restore the much-loved fountain in Lurgan Park says Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council after 'flow-test'
Hopes that the much-loved fountain in Lurgan Park was back up and running again have been dashed as Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council says more work needs to be done.
Social media was awash with pictures of the Coalbrookdale Fountain in Lurgan Park fully functioning with jets of water appearing to sprinkle from many of its beautiful ornate features.
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News that the fountain was up and running again was welcomed by many across the town and council however visitors to the park after last Tuesday’s test run were disappointed when the only water in the fountain was rainwater.
It seems the fountain was only turned on for a ‘flow test’ on Tuesday and much more work is needed to bring the fountain back into full functioning order.
A spokesperson for Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council said: “Work to get the fountain back up and running has been taking place over the last few months. This week (Tuesday) we were able to turn it on for a flow test only, however further work is needed before it is commissioned back into service.”
Coalbrookdale Fountain is a cast-iron fountain originally erected in 1888 in Lurgan town centre to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee. It was moved to Lurgan Park in the mid 1920’s to make way for the war memorial. While other similar cast iron fountains survive around the world - from Christchurch, New Zealand to Weston-super-Mare, Somerset - no other fountain is known to survive with its original lamp posts.
It is said that some Coalbrookdale fountains were brightly painted, but early photographs suggest that Lurgan’s fountain, like others of the period, was painted a single dark colour in imitation of bronze. Coalbrookdale fountains were assembled from many individual castings which explain the technical difficulties in repairing and restoring this beautiful feature.
The roses planted adjacent to the fountain were bred in Northern Ireland mostly in the 20’s and 30’s at a time when Dickson’s of Newtownards and McCready’s of Portadown were prominent breeders. They remain to this day two of the most important families in the history of rose-growing.