Victorian fountain, Caernarfon
This fountain was installed in Y Maes (Castle Square) in 1868 as part of a major scheme to improve Caernarfon’s water and sanitation, after a cholera outbreak in winter 1866-67 which killed at least 70 people. The fountain was surrounded by a wide basin, visible in the photo.
At the time of the outbreak, the town’s drinking water came from the river Cadnant. Water companies pumped it up to the streets, but many houses had no supply. The river wasn’t filtered and was polluted with drainage from farmland and the village of Bethel. Toilets and drains emptied into the lowest part of the river. “In summer and dry weather, it becomes a stinking ditch,” wrote Dr Seaton, an expert dispatched by the Privy Council office to report on the cholera outbreak.
He criticised the water supply and drainage, and the absence of toilets at many of the town’s overcrowded houses. Commonly the houses had windows on one side only, preventing proper ventilation.
Town mayor Sir Llewelyn Turner persuaded the council to borrow £10,000 for the new water system, which the Prince of Wales inaugurated in April 1868 by switching on the fountain. A jet of water rose c.30 metres from the fountain, increasing to almost 40 metres when chief engineer RJ Davids fully opened the valve, at the prince’s request. The crowd hastily retreated from the barriers where the spray descended!
In November 1868 the new fountain became a makeshift water cannon on the day of the first general election since the number of men entitled to vote had doubled, with ordinary householders and farm tenants included. It wasn’t a secret ballot, and Caernarfonshire quarrymen were warned they could lose their jobs for voting Liberal! The county had extra police and more than 1,000 special constables on hand for polling day, but they couldn’t quell a mass brawl in Y Maes – until the fountain jet was directed into the crowd.
The water system was designed to supply 160 litres (35 gallons) each day to 20,000 people – double the town’s population at the time. This was a generous allowance even by modern standards. In 2013, Dŵr Cymru customers used 145 litres per person per day on average.
The fountain is now in the aptly named Pool Street. A little to the north (where the multi-storey car park now stands) was the King’s Pool, a millpond formed by damming the Cadnant when the castle and walled town were built in the 13th century. The pool survived into the 19th century. The river is now channelled under the streets.
Postcode: LL55 2AE View Location Map