| Rondebosch Fountain | |
|---|---|
 The replacement fountain shortly after it was installed in 2020 | |
| Location | Rondebosch, Cape Town, South Africa |
| Coordinates | 33°57′41.2″S 18°28′12.3″E / 33.961444°S 18.470083°E |
| Area | 5 metres (16 ft) |
| Height | 4 m (13 ft) |
| Built | 1891, 2020 |
Rondebosch Fountain is an ornamental Victorian drinking trough for horses, standing on a traffic island on the intersection between Belmont Road and Main Road in the centre of Rondebosch in Cape Town, South Africa. It was declared a National Monument on 10 April 1964.[1]
Originally known as the Moodie Fountain, the fountain was made of cast iron in 1891 and consisted of a circular drinking trough supported on horses' legs, with a central post topped with a hexagonal lantern. Four decorated brackets may have originally suspended cups for people to drink from the spouting water, while horses drank from the trough, and dogs from smaller basins at ground level.[2]
It was cast by Walter Macfarlane & Co. at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, Scotland, and presented to the community by George Pigot Moodie in 1891.[3][4] The lantern was not South Africa's first electric streetlight. It was first turned on on 25 April 1892, almost 10 years after streetlights in Kimberley were turned on. Initially powered by Moodie's private power plant until a municipal power plant on the Liesbeek River was completed.[5][6]
The original cast iron fountain was destroyed in August 2015 when a speeding car smashed into it, and some of the pieces were stolen.[7][8] The fountain was rebuilt in aluminium[9] by local company Heritage Castings.[1][10][11][12] The rebuilt fountain was installed on the 24 September 2020.[13]
- ^ a b "Project to reproduce landmark Rondebosch fountain almost complete". Castings SA. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
racedowas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Rondebosch Fountain". SAHRA. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ Plug, C. "Moodie, Mr George Pigot". S2A3 Biographical Database of Southern African Science. Retrieved 28 December 2018.
- ^ "Eskom Heritage: First Central Power Station – 1891". Eskom. Retrieved 21 December 2018.
- ^ Harvey, John (28 April 2016). "Hope for landmark Rondebosch fountain". Southern Suburbs Tatler. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
- ^ Jeranji, Tiyese (25 August 2015). "History smashed into pieces". People's Post.
- ^ "Can you help solve the restoration mystery of SA's first electric lamp post?". People's Post. 30 August 2016.
- ^ "Replication of the Rondebosch Fountain". Seeff. 21 September 2018.
- ^ "Project to reproduce landmark Rondebosch fountain almost complete". CapeTalk. 24 August 2018.
- ^ "Heritage Castings". Retrieved 22 December 2018.
- ^ Ford, Wesley (7 March 2019). "Hope for fountain". Southern Suburbs Tatler.
- ^ FORD, WESLEY (1 October 2020). "Rondebosch fountain restored". Southern Suburbs Tatler. Retrieved 12 May 2024.