Eagle Street Fountain

General

Also known as

Mooney Memorial Fountain

Classification

State Heritage

Register status

Entered

Date entered

21 October 1992

Types

Monuments and Memorials: Memorial/Monument - person

Parks/gardens/trees: Tree

Utilities - Water supply: Other - Utilities - Water

Theme

6.3 Building settlements, towns, cities and dwellings: Developing urban services and amenities

Architect

Chambers, WH

Builder

Webster, William

Construction periods

1878–1880, Eagle Street Fountain

unknown, Tree (c1953)

Historical period

1870s–1890s Late 19th century

Location

Address

118 Eagle Street, Brisbane City

LGA

Brisbane City Council

Coordinates

-27.46601734, 153.03017939

Significance

Criterion AThe place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland’s history.

The Eagle Street Fountain is significant as an excellent example of a Victorian era public monument and amenity of careful and ornate design and fine materials and workmanship.

Situated at the intersection of Queen and Eagle Streets, the Eagle Street Fountain is significant for its landmark value.

The Eagle Street Fountain is significant for its association with James Mooney, a volunteer fireman who had lost his life while fighting a fire in Queen Street in March 1877.

Criterion DThe place is important in demonstrating the principal characteristics of a particular class of cultural places.

The Eagle Street Fountain is significant as an excellent example of a Victorian era public monument and amenity of careful and ornate design and fine materials and workmanship.

Criterion EThe place is important because of its aesthetic significance.

The Eagle Street Fountain is significant as an excellent example of a Victorian era public monument and amenity of careful and ornate design and fine materials and workmanship.

Situated at the intersection of Queen and Eagle Streets, the Eagle Street Fountain is significant for its landmark value.

Criterion HThe place has a special association with the life or work of a particular person, group or organisation of importance in Queensland’s history.

The Eagle Street Fountain is significant for its association with James Mooney, a volunteer fireman who had lost his life while fighting a fire in Queen Street in March 1877.

History

This fountain, erected between 1878 and 1880, was designed by the City Engineer, WH Chambers. It was built at a cost of £627 as part of measures to enhance the visual character of that part of the city. The fountain was funded by the Brisbane Municipal Council and public subscriptions. The fountain incorporated local porphyry (Brisbane tuff), Murphy's Creek sandstone, and imported granite and marble. Inscribed on the fountain were the names of the Aldermen in the 1879 Council, the City Engineer, the Town Clerk, and William Webster, the sculptor.

The fountain popularly became known as the Mooney Memorial Fountain. This name arose through donations given at the time towards a memorial to James Mooney, a volunteer fireman who had lost his life while fighting a fire in Queen Street in March 1877. The official Mooney Memorial, however, was erected above Mooney's grave at Toowong Cemetery using funds raised publicly by his friends and fire-fighter colleagues.

When the Eagle Street fountain was restored in 1988, a special tablet was inscribed as a dedication to James Mooney and to other firemen who had lost their lives in the line of duty.

Description

This highly decorative drinking fountain stands on a triangular piece of land at the junction of Queen and Eagle Streets. The foundation and steps are 3.9 m square and built of porphyry (Brisbane tuff). The base is 2.1 m square and built of granite from Mount Alexander in Victoria.

It has four corner columns on its granite base, with richly foliated capitals and raised pedestals, surmounted by four Gothic arches which support a foliated and ribbed spire. The spire, which was originally topped by an ornate finial, rises to 10 m above the ground. The portion between the columns and below the arches is of sandstone ashlar, and this is where the plaques are located. Three lions heads above ornate basins, all of white Sicilian marble are located between the base of the piers on three sides of the fountain. The water supply through the heads was regulated by a system easily accessible by the removal of a single stone.

Although the fountain originally dominated the Eagle Street corner, the scale of recent adjacent high-rise buildings has lessened its visual impact. However, a large fig nearby supports its present claim as a landmark.

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