So many of these Fountains and Troughs go un-noticed when they are very interesting from both a historical and artistic point of view. Many of the Fountains are fine examples of Victorian grandeur, and while the Troughs are usually a little less ornate they still had an important role to play in providing water to the population and their animals!
Many are used as flowerbeds these days and you probably often walk past one and never consider its original function!
I was very excited when I discovered this series of caches as "Municipal Water Features" (as I like to call them) are something that I go around collecting photographs of, so the chance to combine this with caching was too hard to resist! ;op
Now, on to this cache!
As many locals may know, there was previously a cache here named 'Portsmouth Water Hole!', which has sadly been archived, but it has given me the opportunity to place a cache in this series! :o)
This stone horse trough was erected by RSPCA in 1902, and moved to its current site in 1907, making it quite a late example as they are very often Victorian. It features a fairly common design with a long rectangular stone trough with a small bowl on the outside at one end which would have had a tap above it for humans to drink from.
On the side of the trough there is an inscription.
The cache is a concealed micro. Please be aware of muggles while you are searching as there is a pub close by.
Please also ensure that you replace the cache (hopefully as you found it) so that it blends in well with its surroundings to reduce the chance of it being muggled! - Thanks!
If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let
Merstham Mafia know first so they can keep track of the cache numbers and names to avoid duplication.