The Atlas Fountain stands in the grounds of

Castle Howard Castle Howard is an English country house in Henderskelfe, North Yorkshire, north of York. A private residence, it has been the home of the Earl of Carlisle, Carlisle branch of the House of Howard, Howard family for more than 300 years. Castle ...

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in Northern England.The Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority areas of City of York, York and North Yorkshire (district), North Yorkshire are in Yorkshire and t ...

, England. It has been designated a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and is now recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

, maintained by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked with prot ...

History

The Atlas Fountain and pond dates from 1850. It was exhibited at

The Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

prior to installation. It was designed by

William Andrews Nesfield William Andrews Nesfield (1793–1881) was an English soldier, landscape architect and artist. After a career in the military which saw him serve under the Duke of Wellington, he developed a second profession as a landscape architect, designing so ...

and the sculpted figures were carved in Portland stone by John Thomas who was paid £1183 10s 3d (equivalent to £ in ) for his work. The figures were transported by rail from London to

Castle Howard railway station Castle Howard railway station was a minor railway station serving the village of Welburn-on-Derwent, Welburn and the stately home at Castle Howard in North Yorkshire, England. On the York to Scarborough Line it was opened on 5 July 1845 by the ...

. The tazza, pedestals, shells and basin were made by local craftsmen. The water engineering was completed by James Easton, taking water from a stream in

Coneysthorpe Coneysthorpe is a small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is situated near Castle Howard and west of Malton. The Centenary Way long-distance path runs through the village. From 1974 to 2023 it was part of the district ...

and using a steam engine to pump it uphill to the Ray Wood reservoir. 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.

Description

A large globe of bronze dominates the fountain supported on the shoulders of

Atlas An atlas is a collection of maps; it is typically a bundle of world map, maps of Earth or of a continent or region of Earth. Advances in astronomy have also resulted in atlases of the celestial sphere or of other planets. Atlases have traditio ...

. Four recumbent Tritons blow water through shells over

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. The pond is approximately in diameter.

References

{{commons category, Atlas Fountain 1853 establishments in England Grade I listed buildings in North Yorkshire Fountains in the United Kingdom Sculptures of Greek gods 1853 sculptures Sculptures of seashells Atlas (mythology) Castle Howard

History

Description

See also

References