CELEBRATION OF THE CENTENARY OF THE
LICKEY DRINKING FOUNTAIN AND HORSE TROUGH
The Lickey Drinking Fountain and Horse Trough was erected in 1906 and commemorated the coronation of Edward VII four years earlier. The Bromsgrove Society is pleased to have joined with the Lickey and Blackwell Parish Council and the West Mercia Probation Service in restoration work to celebrate the monument’s centenary. A ceremony to mark this and the completion of the 2006 refurbishment programme will be held on Friday 5th May at 12 noon. Members of the public are invited to attend and the President, Chairman and Executive Committee of the Society extend a particularly warm invitation to members of the local community to come and witness the refurbished monument unveiled by The Hon. Julie Kirkbride, MP.
Romantics will be disappointed but Julie will not be heralding in a new era of refreshment for exhausted horses that have struggled with their loads to the summit of this ancient way. There are, alas, too few carriers’ horses passing here these days to justify the cost of reconnecting the plumbing.
There is no doubt that climbs on through routes like the Lickey caused centuries of hardship and suffering for horses in the service of man. Indeed, the argument has been made that the Lickey Horse Trough would need to have been set up around a thousand years earlier for it to boast any real historical value in terms of equine welfare.
As we all know, the advance of motor transport in the course of a few short decades following the Edwardian period saw the demise of horse-drawn traffic and sadly, the feature soon fell into disuse. Members of the Society’s LHG have not even been able to trace any records or information on the work and planning that went into the erection of the monument all those years ago other than what can be seen on the two sandstone plaques. They have been unable to find any press reports or other records concerning the event beyond the fact that the North Bromsgrove Urban District Council said the waterworks company would have to provide water free of charge!
One of the plaques tells us that Lord Plymouth was involved and it is believed he donated the small piece of land upon which the feature stands. The Earl of Plymouth in 1906 was Robert George Windsor-Clive and it is thought he made a monetary contribution too. However the main funding came from either The North Bromsgrove Fund or the North Worcester Fund, depending on whether one relies upon the inscription on the monument or the caption of a 1916 picture postcard. Whatever the correct name, no records of such a fund can be found.
Notwithstanding its short useful life, the Drinking Fountain tower, in particular, remains a pleasing Edwardian artefact and the Bromsgrove Society and the Lickey and Blackwell Parish Council believe the entire monument is worth preserving and it is confidently hoped the refurbishment project will ensure the feature is cherished by the local community for a very long time to come.
Broadly similar sums of money have been invested by the Bromsgrove Society and the Lickey and Blackwell Parish Council towards the refurbishment project, the Society covering the cost of a new crown to replace the original that was broken. It is thought this damage was caused by a branch falling from one of the trees - probably at some point between the wars. Local retired stonemason Mike Ford has very kindly undertaken the cutting of the new sandstone crown. The PC has covered the cost of general refurbishment of the stonework with similar work to the war memorial. A valuable man-and-muscle contribution has been made by offenders working under the West Mercia Probation Service, co-ordinated by Bromsgrove Society member John Barnett.