Busby's Bore Fountain - Hyde Park, Sydney, NSW, Australia - Fountains on Waymarking.com

The fountain is set in a octagonal sandstone base with a couple of steps for the falling shells/leaves. Nearby is a square weathered brass plaque with the following inscription:

** "This fountain was provided by the Council of the City of Sydney to commemorate Sydney’s second source of water and its first piped water supply.

As the Tank Stream, the original source of water, was dwindling and had become befouled, Governor Darling in 1826, directed the Government Mineral Surveyor and Civil Engineer, John Busby, to undertake the task of increasing the water supply to Sydney.

John Busby proposed and supervised the construction of a tunnel from Lachlan Swamps (now Centennial Park) to a position in Hyde Park opposite Stanley Street and near College Street.

Work commenced with convict labour at Hyde Park on August 15, 1827. The tunnel was completed in May, 1837, and was approximately 12,000 feet long with an average cross section of 5 feet by 4 feet. It cost 24,000 pounds to construct, and delivered up to 400, 000 gallons daily.

Water was carried by pipes, supported on trestles, from the tunnel end to an enclosure near the corner of Elizabeth and Park Streets until 1844, when pipes were laid from the tunnel to various parts of Sydney. The Bore remained Sydney’s sole source of water until 1859.

The Fountain was placed in operation by Lord Mayor of Sydney Alderman H. F. Jensen on 26.10.62.

J. H. Luscombe Town Clerk

Designer: John Byrom – Architect." ** [ex-photo of plaque, and Monuments Australia link below]

Visited: 1142, Sunday, 19 January, 2020

Web Link: [Web Link]

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