Group seeks £100,000 lottery money to restore drinking fountain

Dunwood Park drinking fountain as it should look

1 More Image(s) In Gallery

CROMPTON’S Friends of Dunwood Park group is to bid for £100,000 - to restore the park’s historic drinking fountain.

Group secretary Carol Hughes is leading the application to the Heritage Lottery Fund. The fountain was a key landmark in the park, which itself enjoyed a major restoration last year.

Mrs Hughes said: “The fountain is unique. We are still researching its history. It’s not just about restoration but raising awareness of local history.

The restoration won’t be able to reopen the fountain as drinking water, and the group believes a bronze plaque to match the original would be stolen. The application will be made in the spring and the group hopes for a decision by Christmas.

The fountain was erected in 1926 and featured bronze figures of a mother and child and a bronze plaque marking local appreciation of the “self-sacrifice and devotion of women of Crompton during the Great War. Help one another.”

The sculpture, plaque and drinking fountain were all stolen in April 1968.