Return Bartlett Fountain to Ironbridge square

Organized by Margaret Roberts, on behalf of the Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale Civic Society. The Civic Society has been liaising with Telford and Wrekin Council about the possibility of moving the John Bartlett Fountain back into Ironbridge Square from the back of Waterloo Street car Park where it has languished for sixty years.

The council now has all necessary arrangements in place, with a cost estimate of £40,000

The Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale Civic Society has agreed to fund-raise to ensure that this important project, which has significant community support, is successful.

This Go Fund Me page is our contribution to the fundraising effort

What is so special about the John Bartlett Fountain?

The Reverend John Bartlett became vicar of Buildwas(less than a mile from Ironbridge), in 1823

He found, to his horror, that the sewage from the houses and cottages in Ironbridge flowed straight into the River Severn and many of the people of Ironbridge had no alternative but to drink the river water!

Many, many people died from cholera and other diseases because of this.

The Reverend Bartlett's estate, Marnwood, just outside Ironbridge had drinking water. So he arranged for this clean drinking water from his estate to feed into Ironbridge, thereby saving countless lives.

After he died, in 1861, his wife had a marble drinking fountain erected in Ironbridge Square in his memory

In the 1960s, when Telford New Town was developing, the then Telford Development Corporation, in their wisdom, hauled down the fountain and dumped it at the back of a nearby carpark to make room for Midland Red buses, to turn round.

THERE IT HAS LANGUISHED EVER SINCE!