This was an unexpected and lovely surprise to find this horse trough and drinking fountain next to each other. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to discover anything about them, apart from one photo in which the wall appeared to have been newly built. Which begs several questions...were they moved from elsewhere and built into this wall, were they already here but the wall needed replacing or repairing, or are they modern replicas built into the wall for decoration?
They don't appear to be on the British Listed Buildings list, but I have recently discovered that not all listed buildings are. Also, many buildings, or architectural details of interest, aren't necessarily given listed status because they don't have the specific requirements needed. Some that have since become eligible for listing have not been applied for, or have been exempted from application by the Council. All of which makes sense, as there are quite a lot of lovely old buildings and other curiosities in Sidmouth that don't seem to have a listed grade.
The drinking fountain is cast iron, beautifully decorated with flowers, foliage and curlicues; in the central motif what I think appears to be a stork standing on a shield, and a dragon reclining at each end of the headpiece. I couldn't see a date, or any other written information, and scarcely had time to do anything other than take the photo as, contrary to the look of an empty road, it really was quite busy on that corner and a little too dangerous to stand where the pavement had petered out to just road. From my photo it looks as though the water trough was cast iron too, but I didn't get near enough to peruse it properly.
So, all in all, a bit of a conundrum. I've only got these four photos, but when I'm up that way again I'll try to get some more and add them to this article. I'll also add any further information if I come across it. :)
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