A 142-year-old fountain in a popular city park has been turned back on– thanks to the fundraising efforts of community groups and the City Council’s Common Good Fund.
The conservation-led work on the category-A-listed historic fountain in Victoria Park started last September and it was completed this week with the fountain turned back on.
The £137,000 of work included delicate cleaning and repairing of the carved stonework and decorative copper elements using bristle brushes and steam rather than corrosive chemicals, the aged and failed filtration system was stripped out and replaced with a modern, energy-efficient system, the modern cement pointing was removed and the stonework repointed using a traditional lime-based mortar, and local granite boulders were sourced and cut to replace the three missing and one vandalised bowls, in keeping with the spirit of the original stonework. A regular maintenance regime for the fountain’s future care was also established.
Friends of Victoria and Westburn Park secured funding to undertake the full repair and restoration of the historic fountain and the works were overseen by Aberdeen City Council with technical input from specialist conservation Architect David Chouman, who is currently leading on projects at His Majesty’s Theatre, Gordon Highlander’s Regimental Museum, and Fyvie Castle. The main contractor for the project was Lost Art.
Aberdeen City Council Leader Councillor Jenny Laing said: “It is fantastic to see the fountain turned back on at Victoria Park and it is looking splendid after the careful restoration of the historic granite stone.
“Thanks must go to the Friends group along with our parks staff for their effort and work and I’m sure local residents will enjoy coming to the park even more now with the restored and working fountain in place.”
Peter Stephen, of the Friends of Victoria and Westburn Park, said: “We are very excited that the work has finished on the fountain and it has not only been restored to its former glory, but is a working fountain too.
“It is great that the work was finished in time for the 150th anniversary of the park’s formation as the city’s first public park next year and is one of several projects we have completed to ensure the space continues to be a beautiful place to visit.
“We are looking forward to people come into Victoria Park to see the restored fountain and enjoy it among the different areas in this beautiful green space.”
The fountain was designed in 1878 by eminent local architect John Bridgeford Pirie and was constructed in 1880 as the centrepiece of Victoria Park using 14 different types of local granite, reflecting the variety of stone being quarried in the Aberdeen area at the time. Gifted to the city by the Master Masons’ Association of Aberdeen, it bears the monograms of the stonemasons who created it.
Victoria Park is located on land which formed part of the 14th century Forest of Stocket, the royal hunting domain which Robert the Bruce gifted to the Burgh of Aberdeen as part of the Freedom Lands in 1319.
They developed into fields and, in 1871, the Aberdeen Council approved a plan to transform the middle portion of these feuing grounds for use as a public park for the people of Aberdeen. The Victorians added walls and railings to define the boundaries of the park, and in February 1873, the park opened and was formally named Victoria Park, after the then-Queen.
The project team gratefully acknowledges in-kind and financial support towards this project from Aberdeen City Council, Aberdeen City Heritage Trust, FCC Communities Foundation, Aberdeen City Council Common Good Fund, and the Friends of Victoria & Westburn Parks. Grants included Aberdeen City Heritage Trust, FCC Communities Foundation, and the Common Good Fund.