‘The Cross’ fountain monument has been restored and is set to return home to its original place on the corner of Cross Street in Oswestry.
Gifted to the town by Henry Bertie Watkin Williams Wynn of Llanforda in 1862, the fountain was part of a national, philanthropic movement for erecting public drinking fountains when the connection was made between clean drinking water and public health.
William Wigginton, a London-based artist, was commissioned to design the fountain. Although larger public projects like churches and schools were his stock in trade, the civic good entailed in a clean water supply clearly attracted his interest.
His design, in the Italian style, stood 11 feet high atop a stepped, hexagonal plinth and incorporated a cross as a nod to its location. Below the cross, was a triangular pillar with a front facing each of the streets converging to it. There were three bowls, one on each side, enriched with carvings of waterlily and three troughs for dogs to drink out of.
The fountain’s useful life lasted for 20 years, when it was eventually moved to Caste Bank. It was restored in 2006 by local conservation company CBS Ltd and relocated back to its former location in the centre of town. In May 2023, it was hit by a van causing extensive damage, and injuring three people, one seriously.
Oswestry Town Council has led the restoration, liaising with the driver’s insurance company, and appointing CBS Ltd to carry out the work. By November 2023, the insurers accepted to pay in full to reinstate the monument.
Detailed research was commissioned to aid in the faithful reproduction. Manuscripts and images in The National Library of Wales, Oswestry Town Council Archive and Oswestry Library were examined to enable the sourcing of the right sort of stone and accurate reproduction of the decorative carvings, most of which had been lost due to decades of weather erosion and damage.
Ian Storey, Director of CBS Ltd, said: “Having restored the original monument in 2006, we were very sad to have heard of the tragic events surrounding the collision, and felt especially motivated to help in whatever way we could.
“After we recovered the monument, we soon arrived at the conclusion that very little of the original material could be salvaged, and once the decision was taken to produce a replica, we began our search for archival information and suitable materials.
“We found that none of the stone quarries used to produce the original components remained open, so we had to look further afield for the replacement sandstone and limestone.
“We engaged some of the county’s finest architectural sculptors to produce clay models of the decoration before arriving at an exemplar that we were all happy with, and this was used to guide the stone carver during the working up of the detailed stonemasonry.
“The highly decorative, detailed and very crisp new work will be in stark contrast to the weathered remains of the original, but we’re confident that our research, carefully selected stone and attention to detail have combined to capture the true spirit of the original work.”
The Mayor of Oswestry cllr Mike Isherwood said: “Safeguarding our heritage landscape for future generations is an important part of our work. The Cross is a familiar sight and means a great deal to us. Whilst it will be wonderful to see it back home in the heart of our town, we mustn’t forget that this was a very serious collision that had profound consequences for those injured. Our sincere thoughts are with them.”
Work to install the restored memorial has begun this week. Hoardings have been placed around the site. After replacing the stepped plinth, CBS will erect the restored monument. It expects the installation will be completed within four weeks.
Work starts on installing the restored monument.
The Cross, (Photo credit: Grum)
