Fountain

Norwood fountain - Spring

Spring carries a bag of seeds and his job is to walk the fields casting the seeds to the ground.

Site: Norwood Grove fountain - 4 Seasons (4 memorials)

SW16, Norwood Grove, garden

There is little information about this delightful fountain and we fear that it is not actually a memorial, but the figures representing the seasons, especially chilly little Winter, are so grotesquely charming that we had to collect it. 

The four figures, each depicting a season of the year, are actually very young caryatids, jointly supporting on their heads a large basin into which the water spills. They take the form of  'term' statues, meaning that their lower halves are replaced, in this case, with foliated scrolls, seen here in a photo with no obscuring reeds. The figures are presented anti-clockwise: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter. We failed to get an acceptable photo of Summer but you can see her quite well in Spring's photo. 

From the Listing: "Ornamental gardens to the south-west and west of the central lawn focus on a C19 fountain 60m to the south of the house. The fountain, which is set within three circular flower beds, has figures below the rim depicting the four seasons, and the rim is inscribed with appropriate months above them. Originally there was an ornamental head above the basin, but this has not been replaced since it was damaged in the Second World War."

Although the rim is in a parlous state, luckily the four figures, being below the basin, are well protected and in good condition.

The Phillips 2015 catalogue Wondrous Beasts, Feathered Fantasies provides: "1891: Nettlefold commissions Wallace to design a fountain which the Martin Brothers produced and it was installed in the grounds of his house, The Grove, Streatham, in London." 

See Norwood Grove for information about the house and Nettlefold.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Norwood fountain - Spring

Created by i

Robert Wallace Martin

Sculptor, normally referred to as Wallace, rather than Robert. Born Upper Tha...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Norwood fountain - Spring

Also at this site i

Norwood fountain - Autumn

Norwood fountain - Autumn

Autumn is clutching an armful of fruit.

Read More

Norwood fountain - Junius

Norwood fountain - Junius

Most of this decorative rim has been lost. Only this 'Junius' section and, to...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Water trough - R. McC.

Water trough - R. McC.

W14, Warwick Gardens

From the RBKC pdf: "This trough was originally erected in 1900 in Kensington Crescent. The crescent was demolished in 1933 (the site is n...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Lord Riddell - fountain

Lord Riddell - fountain

WC1, Gray's Inn Road, Royal Free Hospital

A cherub stands atop the fountain clutching a dolphin which appears capable of spouting water but was not obliging on our visit. This fo...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Lyttelton Fountain

Lyttelton Fountain

W1, Piccadilly

Standing in Piccadilly one sees 4 memorials on the wall: from left to right: Sotheran Fountain, Garden, Lyttelton Fountain, Railings. The...

1 subject commemorated
Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee fountain - Blackheath

Queen Victoria Diamond Jubilee fountain - Blackheath

SE3, Tranquil Vale

The rear of the fountain has a little door with a keyhole, presumably to provide access to the water-delivering mechanism - so long unused.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Charles Kingsley water trough - SE1

Charles Kingsley water trough - SE1

SE1, Hopton Road

Doesn't this picture of the alms houses just make you weep? A London Inheritance has a photographic analysis of how this area has change...

1 subject commemorated