Twenty-five years ago in April 1998, the Chronicle was reporting on the unveiling of a refurbished monument that thousands of people in Newcastle pass every day.
The Rutherford memorial drinking fountain was erected in 1894 in memory of Dr John Hunter Rutherford, a well-known Presbyterian minister and educationalist. More than 5,000 people had attended his funeral four years earlier. The fountain was formally unveiled by Joseph Cowen, proprietor of the Evening Chronicle.
Rutherford was born in in Jedburgh in 1826, and later moved to Newcastle where he became a popular figure. His memorial was built by the Band of Hope Union in honour of a man who pioneered free secondary and technical education in the city. He founded Bath Lane Church in 1860 and set up a number of schools. The doctor was also known to provide free breakfasts for poor children before school.
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The fountain was one of many constructed in the city during the 19th century to improve the quality of drinking water for Newcastle’s rocketing working-class population. The city corporation of the day provided public fountains and standpipes in locations such as Gallowgate, Percy Street, High Friar Street, Newgate Street, High Bridge, Side, Westgate Road, Pilgrim Street, Manor Street, Sandgate West and East, St Ann’s Row, East Ballast Hills, St Lawrence, New Green Market, and Leazes.
Rutherford's monument has stood in three different city centre spots over the last century and a quarter. It was initially erected outside the cathedral in St Nicholas’ Square but in 1901, to accommodate a new statue of the recently deceased Queen Victoria, it was moved to the Bigg Market next to where the former underground public toilets are situated.
The ornate water fountain is an octagonal red sandstone construction with a pink granite basin. It bears the inscriptions “JHR” and “Water Is Best” on shields in its panels. Dr Rutherford was a prominent advocate of temperance, the Victorian movement that campaigned against alcohol consumption and argued for abstinence. He might well have turned in his grave (he is actually buried in Elswick Cemetery) had he known a monument in his name would end up in the heart of the Bigg Market, a location famous for its pubs and often raucous nightlife.
Over time, the memorial became weathered and fell into disrepair forcing the water supply to be turned off. In 1996, Newcastle City Council removed it for conservation as part of its refurbishment plans for the Bigg Market. In 1998, with financial support from Northumbrian Water, it was cleaned and installed further up the Bigg Market at its present location. It no longer provides water, but is now a Grade II-listed monument.
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