Drinking Fountain presented by William Alexander, Mayor 1860
This drinking fountain, which is no longer operational, is on the bridge over the Dock Feeder canal at Kingsway.
In February 1861 the Council's Property Committee was asked "to select a suitable site for the erection of the fountain presented by Alderman Alexander" and in December the Council agreed "Aldn. Alexander's fountain to be placed in front of the Town Hall".[1] This was the old Town Hall in St Mary's Street, which was replaced by the present City Hall in Cathays Park in 1904.[2]
In 1908 the fountain was moved to Mill Lane, and it was placed in its present position in 1952.[3] Ordnance Survey maps show a fountain on the Dock Feeder bridge from the 1950s. A detailed description of the fountain is given by the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association.[4]
Photograph taken October 2018
The inscription on the fountain comes from the King James Version of the bible and reads:
Jesus said unto her
whosoever drinketh of this water
shall thirst again
but whosoever drinketh of the water
that I shall give him
shall never thirst
John. IV. 13. 14
The text at the foot of the plaque reads: Erected by Wm Alexander Mayor of Cardiff A.D. 1860 Cast by the Coalbrookdale Co