Ross Fountain
Encyclopedia
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....
from the mid-19th Century located at the west end of Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street Gardens
Princes Street Gardens is a public park in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland, in the shadow of Edinburgh Castle. The Gardens were created in the 1820s following the long draining of the Nor Loch and the creation of the New Town. The Nor Loch was a large loch in the centre of the city. It was...
in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
. Figures depicted on the fountain include mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
s and four females depicting science, the arts, poetry, and industry. A final female figure stands at the apex of the fountain.
After being cast in the Durenne Ironworks at Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne
Haute-Marne is a department in the northeast of France named after the Marne River.-History:Haute-Marne is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790...
in the early 1860s, it was displayed at The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or The Great Exhibition, sometimes referred to as the Crystal Palace Exhibition in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held, was an international exhibition that took place in Hyde Park, London, from 1 May to 15 October...
in London in 1862 where it was seen by philanthropist and gun-maker Daniel Ross, who bought it for the City of Edinburgh. Having been transported in 122 pieces, it arrived in Leith
Leith
-South Leith v. North Leith:Up until the late 16th century Leith , comprised two separate towns on either side of the river....
in 1869.
Great deliberation followed as to the most appropriate location for the statue, with it finally being installed in Princes Street Gardens in 1872. There was notable controversy at the time surrounding the fountain - in particular, Edward Bannerman Ramsay
Edward Bannerman Ramsay
Edward Bannerman Ramsay , a clergyman of the Scottish Episcopal Church, and Dean of Edinburgh in that communion from 1841, has a place in literature through his Reminiscences of Scottish Life and Character, which had gone through 22 editions at his death...
, Dean of the nearby St John's Episcopal Church, described it as "grossly indecent and disgusting".
In 2001 a major refurbishment allowed water to flow again for the first time since 1996.
Ross Fountain is now a category B listed structure.