At last: Bath’s smallest park is set for a new era
By Harry Mottram. For years the Jubilee fountain on the Wellsway has stood on the corner of Bath’s smallest park: The Gore.
Covered in dust and hemmed in by utility boxes the Grade II Victoria Diamond Jubilee drinking fountain has been neglected and all but forgotten until a group of public spirited individuals banded together to campaign for its restoration.
Their efforts have been repaid – up to a point – as Bear Flat’s least known item of Victorian street furniture has been awarded a grant of £5,000 for repairs.
Bear Flat Environment, a newly formed Charitable Incorporated Organisation, has been awarded the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) grant by Bath & North East Somerset Council for the works to the fountain at The Gore.
The Gore is home to the Grade II Victoria Diamond Jubilee drinking fountain which is falling into disrepair. The funding will enable stonework repairs to be undertaken to prevent further deterioration of the fountain and help improve the image of the area.
The Bear Flat Association has championed the area stretching from Holloway up to and past The Devonshire Arms and in the surrounding streets.
Their vision is to see the main thoroughfare past the hotel to Bloomfield become more of a centre for the suburb.
The Gore is at the junction of the Wellsway and Bloomfield Road – squeezed in between heavy traffic – but a green island nevertheless.
CIL funding is awarded by the council to projects which will improve existing facilities to benefit local people.
Cllr Jess David said: “Small projects like these improvements to the Bear Flat drinking fountain are so important in giving local areas a lift for the community to benefit from.
“As part of the wider project it’s going to improve the image of The Gore for residents and for people passing through, and encouraging local trade.”
Constructed to celebrate Queen Victoria’s 60th anniversary as monarch in 1897 the fountain is actually a modern addition to the junction.
Bloomfield Avenue and Bear Flat to the Holloway were once part of the Roman trunk road into the city – better know as The Fosse Way. Gareth Somerset of Bear Flat said it was important to ‘preserve this piece of local history’.
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