Taylor Memorial Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough
The Taylor Memorial Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough is located on Market Street next to the Pumping Station on the corner of Market and Phillimore Streets. It is one of a number of extant horse troughs in Fremantle.
John Taylor had this made in the Doulton factory in memory of his sons who died in 1905. The idea is that all creatures could drink from it. From this angle you can see the horse trough, and the opening at the base for smaller animals and (courageous) birds. The human fountain is on the other side, under a plaque which reads: 'Erected by John Taylor of London in memory of his sons Ernest & Peter who died in Western Australia'. Despite being restored by the FCC (with the assistance of [[../people/campbell.html|Joan Campbell]]) and moved to a firmer base in 1983, it seems to be unused, except by the usual graffitists - certainly not by horses.
Heritage Council's description:
Taylor Memorial Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough, an elaborately designed monument of glazed stoneware construction combining a drinking fountain with water troughs for horses and small animals, has cultural heritage significance for the following reasons: the place is a unique and creative monument of glazed stoneware construction and elaborate design that combines a drinking fountain with water troughs for horses and small animals; the place is highly valued for its aesthetic qualities as an interesting and unique landmark in the City of Fremantle; the place has associations with shipowner John Taylor, who erected the structure in memory of his two sons, Ernest Baines Taylor and Peter Southern Taylor, who had both died in Western Australia; and, the place is the only known monumental structure in Western Australia to have been constructed by the well known English stoneware manufacturers, Doulton and Company.
References and Links
Heritage Council entry for Taylor Drinking Fountain
This page incorporates material from Garry Gillard's Freotopia website, that he started in 2014 and the contents of which he donated to Wikimedia Australia in 2024. The content was originally created on 19 July, 2016 and hosted at freotopia.org/buildings/taylorfountain.html (it was last updated on 14 April, 2024), and has been edited since it was imported here (see page history). The donated data is also preserved in the Internet Archive's collection.