Italian Gardens Fountains - Kensington Gardens, London, UK
N 51° 30.630 W 000° 10.530
30U E 695993 N 5710379
The Italian Gardens, with four lozenge-shaped ponds at their centre, are in the northern part of Kensington Gardens close to the Marlborough Gate entrance.
Waymark Code: WMMVK9
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/09/2014
Views: 7
Each of the four ponds has a fountain at its centre that having mulriple jets that discharge water to varying heights with a maximum of about four metres. The two fountains closest to the pumphouse perform slightly better than the two further away. The pumphouse is an ornate building close north west of the ponds. The pumphouse is now used as a shelter where the fountains can be viewed.
The Victorian Web website tells us:
The Italian Garden was Prince Albert's brain-child, and a top-level team was commissioned to carry it out: the architect and landscaper Sir James Pennethorne (1801-71) designed the layout; Sir Charles Barry, together with Robert Richardson Banks, designed the ornate pumphouse/shelter; and John Thomas (1813-1862) was responsible for the reliefs and sculptures other than William Calder Marshall's Jenner, which, according to the 1996 plaque commemorating Edward Jenner's first smallpox vaccination, this memorial to the great physician "was inaugurated by Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, and the first to be erected in Kensington Gardens in 1862. The cost was met by international subscription."
The pumphouse is a Grade II listed building with the entry at the English Heritage website telling us:
Pavilion of The Fountains. Mid C19. Portland stone. Pantiled roof. Italianate style. 1 storey, 3 bays. Square plan. Open arches to front, carving to capitals and spandrels. Channelled quoins. Console cornice to eaves. Square tower, panelled and pilastered; rising from centre of roof, with cast iron cresting to crest and around base. Urns flanking central entrance. Forms focus of The Fountains layout.