Green plaque № 74459

Jubilee Fountain. The cast iron drinking fountain formerly at Bayswell Park was placed here by Dunbar Community Council and East Lothian Council in February 2007 to commemorate the official inauguration of a new water supply for Dunbar on 14th March 1896. The ceremony took place at this location. In response to a serious typhoid outbreak in the town in the autumn and winter of 1895/6 they reacted quickly. A new source of water was provided by Mr. and Mrs. Henry Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy of Biel. This came from the Cauld and Howe Burns at Halls Farm. The inauguration ceremony included a grand procession held in bitterly cold conditions. Provost James Brand invited Mrs. Nisbet Hamilton Ogilvy to declare the supply open. She did so and presumably turned it on. There was a strong gust of wind and a sudden spray of clear water descended on those nearby. On the day, the fountain was referred to as the Jubilee Fountain, in anticipation of Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897. It was replaced by a more useful combined gas light standard and horse trough in the reign of King Edward VII.

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