The Hubert Fountain was originally created in France. Odd really, when you consider that it was built to be shown at the Great International Exhibition at the Horticultural Society Gardens in Kensington (London) in 1862.
It stands thirty-three and a half feet tall and weighs a rather impressive forty-five tons. The four upper-figures of children represent the four corners of the world, with the words ‘Asie,’ ‘Europe,’ ‘Afrique ,’ and ‘Amerique’ inscribed into the pedestals beneath (if you look closely ). Originally it was quite the musical instrument with sixty-four whistles built into its structure which played music as the water cascaded through them.
The fountain was purchased for three thousand pounds (about half a million pounds in today's parlance ) by Mr John Sawbridge-Erle-Drax, who displayed the fountain in his 20 acre gardens at Olantigh in Wye until his house burned down in 1903. Eventually it passed to Mr George Harper (the former chairman of the Urban District Council and local antiques dealer), who presented the fountain to the town of Ashford , on the condition that it was to be played every year on his birthday.
When first installed in Victoria Park two large metal stags also stood at either side of the fountain. they are long gone; thought to be melted down during the war effort together with the park's railings - you might notice the park has gates but no railings.
As the years passed so the fountain stood idle. The pumps and mechanisms became irreparable. In 1977 the fountain was restored with the help and financial assistance from local businessmen to celebrate the Queen's Silver Jubilee. In 1998 the fountain was completely restored at a cost of £490,000, with much of the money coming from... well... I'll ask you to tell me where that money came from later. The fountain was refurbished again in 2007 when it was shot blasted to remove the old paint, repairs were carried out to the structure and it was repainted with long-lasting specialist paint to leave it the striking colour it is today. However, the fountain’s musical features were never replaced.
In 2018 the site played host to one of the fund-raising Snow Dogs. The fountain is rather pretty when the pumps are running, and can be spectacular in winter when the water freezes.
For me the fountain is somewhere where I often try (and fail) to get my dogs to pose for photos, and I will never forget my daughter (when only aged eight) showing off on the side of the thing before falling in. I didn't laugh much.
So... enough of the history. To claim a find here please go to the fountain, have a look at it and send me (either by email or message through my profile page) the answers to the following three questions:
(Please get your answers from the fountain - what you might find on-line is sometimes at odds with reality)
1 According to a plaque on the fountain when was the fountain presented to the town of Ashford (the on-line answers are different to what the plaque says)
2a According to another plaque, what fund paid towards the fountain's restoration
2b The name of which country has been graffiti-ed onto this plaque?
3 There are several cherubs on the fountain. How many of them are blowing a shell-horn thingy?
Virtual Rewards 2.0 - 2019/2020
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between June 4, 2019 and June 4, 2020. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 2.0 on the Geocaching Blog.