IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Burns Street, DUMBARTON, G82 4PD

Recently built houses by the River Leven.

The corner of Burns Street and Stirling Street is at the top. See also Image, taken from about the same spot as the present picture.

Stirling Street Renton looking west towards the River Leven from the main street

The view is from further along the recently-upgraded path that is shown in Image The path follows the bank of the River Leven. The houses on the left, on the other side of the river, are also shown in a view from that side: Image

The structure stands on the east side of Main Street in Renton; although I do not have confirmation of the manufacturer, the canopy is typical(*) of the work of Walter Macfarlane & Co., of the well-known Saracen Foundry, at Possilpark, Glasgow. The base of the font (the part that is sheltered by the canopy) bears the manufacturer's name Glenfield & Kennedy, but it is likely that it is a replacement for an earlier font; if so, the most likely reason for the change is that the replacement font was considered to have a more hygienic design (for example, there is a Image, which was also manufactured by Glenfield & Kennedy). Such replacement has happened with other fountains of the same design (see the links at the end of this description). On the upper part of the canopy, on the left, are the words "Keep the pavement dry", and a picture of a dog with the word "Fides" under it. On the right is the following inscription: "Presented by Alex. Wylie of Cordale to Local Authority of Cardross Parish to commemorate the opening of Renton Water Works 1886". There were originally two such fountains, but only this one survives. It used to stand beside Image; it was set beside the pavement, not far from Image In the picture just linked, the Smollett Monument is the very tall Tuscan column; behind it is a brick-built recess in the line of the fence, showing where the fountain used to stand. The other fountain stood near the top of Stirling Street (it had remained in its original location), but it disappeared many years ago; I do not know what happened to it. These fountains commemorated the official opening of Carman Reservoir; see Image, where that event is described in detail. The structure itself is almost identical to one that stands beside some sheltered housing near Image in Greenock (see a link given at the end of this item for pictures of the fountain, and close-up details). The one in Greenock differs in that it has an extra feature on top: a finial incorporating a crown and a pattée cross. As it happens, the Renton fountain did originally have one of these, but, now being in a generally rather poor condition, has lost it. Also, under the "Keep the pavement dry" message, the one in Greenock features a bird (see the link in the end-note), rather than a dog. I later took some pictures of the old fountain in Greenock for myself (Image / Image), but for closer views, see the link below, already mentioned. - - • - - (*) Contemporary newspaper reports about the two fountains in Renton describe their ongoing construction in the week or two before the presentation, and the fact that they are the gift of Mr Wylie, but they do not describe the fountains themselves, nor do they name the manufacturer. However, their design is one that was listed, as "Cast iron drinking fountain number 8", in the catalogue of Walter Macfarlane & Co. (of the Saracen Foundry). For comparable examples, some of them with their original finials, see the following pages. The first group of links is a selection of pages from the Memorial Drinking Fountains site (at Wordpress.com); many other examples could be given from that site: ● https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2016/07/04/woodvale-park/ : Woodvale Park in Belfast, Northern Ireland. ● https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2014/03/29/william-hall-fountain/ : William Hall Fountain, Sunderland, England. ● https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2015/01/05/queen-victoria-jubilee-fountain/ : Jubilee Fountain, Dalton-in-Furness, England. ● https://memorialdrinkingfountains.wordpress.com/2014/06/22/railway-square/ : Railway Square Fountain, Sydney, Australia. See also the following page from "the Greenockian" (at Blogspot.com): ● http://thegreenockian.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/greenock-keep-pavement-dry.html : the very similar fountain in Greenock, mentioned above. Note also that the bird shown on it is a perfect match for the one on a fountain in Coleraine, as shown in Image; the overall structure of the two fountains is different, but the manufacturer is the same, and many details are identical. My thanks to Albert Bridge for bringing the Coleraine fountain to my attention.

See Image for a detailed description.

See Image for a detailed description. The original finial, with crown and pattée cross, is gone, but can be seen intact on other surviving fountains of this kind. The same details (a dog with Latin motto "fides", and the message "keep the pavement dry") appear on the opposite side; the ironwork bearing the word "dry" is likewise missing on that side. [The present picture is a useful record since, by mid-2020, the dog detail shown here was gone, along with some more of the accompanying text.] On fountains of this design, a bird (see the link in the end-note) appears to be more common than dog as a motif.

See Image for a detailed description.