Atlas Fountain

The Atlas Fountain and pond dates from 1850. It was exhibited at The Great Exhibition prior to installation.[2]

It was designed by William Andrews Nesfield and the sculpted figures were carved in Portland stone by John Thomas who was paid £1183 10s 3d (equivalent to £127,414 in 2021)[3] for his work. The figures were transported by rail from London to Castle Howard railway station.

The tazza, pedestals, shells and basin were made by local craftsmen. The water engineering was completed by James Easton,[4] taking water from a stream in Coneysthorpe and using a steam engine to pump it uphill to the Ray Wood reservoir.[5]

The fountain was turned on for the first time in October 1853.

The fountain was overhauled in 1983 and again by The Earth Stone and Lime in 2012.

A large globe of bronze dominates the fountain supported on the shoulders of Atlas. Four recumbent Tritons blow water through shells over Atlas kneeling on a pedestal in the central tazza. Other jets fill the lower scallop shell basins, which overflow into the central basin producing a dramatic cascade of white water.

The fountain is fed from the half-million gallon Ray Wood reservoir, to the east of the main house. Gravity feeds water into a chamber beneath the pond basin where pipes direct it to the main outlets in the Triton's shells.[6]

The pond is approximately 27 metres (89 ft) in diameter.

Atlas Fountain