Refusal to list drinking fountains

One of Liverpool's World Heritage values is its tradition of innovation in a whole range of technological and social initiatives. 

Liverpool Corporation appointed Dr Duncan as England's first Medical Officer of Health in 1847 in response to the over-crowding and consequent unsanitary conditions in the city's court housing. 

In a further effort to improve the health of the city, Charles Melly provided England's first free drinking fountains in Liverpool in 1854 and nine of these still survive, at least in part.

Typical Melly Fountains were made of red polished granite and consisted of three pieces: 
1) A basin projecting from the wall, 
2) A slab fixed on a wall with a bronze lion's head through which the water flowed and 
3) A surmounting pediment, usually dated. Two drinking cups were usually provided, attached by chains. However, variations on the design included the shell-like cast iron fountains in the Dock Wall at Princes Dock.

The importance of the drinking fountains has been recognized by Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Culture Company and United Utilities who are jointly organizing a project that:

a) has seen the fountains celebrated by a concert of original "music" by children from local schools 
b) has involved the casting of new lion's heads from the sole surviving original for replacement on refurbished fountains and 
c) the design of contemporary fountains for provision in new locations.

The Friends of Liverpool Monuments have also asked English Heritage to list the surviving drinking fountains as important examples of Liverpool's social history but in December 2006 English Heritage declined to do so as they are generally in poor condition and missing key original components. 

English Heritage further advised that the fountains would be more suitable for inclusion on a local list of buildings/structures of architectural or historic interest. 

However, some of the fountains are already protected by national legislation, by virtue of being affixed to structures which are already listed, such as the Dock Wall, inside the World Heritage Site. 

Liverpool City Council has already asked the Mersey docks and Harbour Company, which owns the wall to prepare a programme of restoration for the wall and the drinking fountains which are affixed to it.

For more information on the drinking Fountains and the Friends of Liverpool Monuments please visit www.liverpoolmonuments.co.uk