Councillor J R Johnson - Bradford, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 46.574 W 001° 44.315
30U E 583125 N 5959364
This drinking fountain was erected on 19th July 1894 in Bowling Park in memory of councillor J R Johnson.
Waymark Code: WMM19Y
Location: Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/01/2014
Views: 2
Bowling Park is a public park opened in 1880, a time when the importance of public open spaces was just being recognised. The land was purchased from the nearby Bolling Hall.
It was also a time when access to clean drinking water could be limited. Around this time drinking fountains were a popular way of providing access to clean water to the public. It is common for them to have been built as a commemoration to someone.
In this case it was dedicated to Councillor J R Johnson. The park is registered under the Historic Buildings and Ancient Monuments Act 1953 within the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens by English Heritage for its special historic interest. On their
listing English Heritage state that "it is a stone drinking fountain, no longer working and with fittings removed. The fountain is set on octagonal stone steps and is square in plan with diagonal corner buttresses supporting round pilasters and a double barrel-vaulted capping with a central column surmounted by a metal finial. It was erected in memory of Councillor John Roberts Johnson who on 2 October 1893 contracted smallpox while helping to rescue patients from an Isolation Hospital and died on the 27th of the same month".
There is a dedication palque on one side of the fountain and above that a relief carving of councillor Johnson. On the opposite side is another plaque telling us that it was unveiled by the Mayor of Bradford.
Both plaques have suffered some from some vandalism.
THIS MONUMENT
WAS ERECTED BY
PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION
IN MEMORY OF
COUNCILLOR
J. R.JOHNSON,
WHO LOST HIS LIFE AT
THE CALL OF PUBLIC DUTY
OCTOBER 1893
UNVEILED
BY HIS WORSHIP
THE MAYOR OF BRADFORD
JONAS WHITLEY, ESQ
JULY 19TH 1894