STAINDROP Parish Council’s bid to have an historic drinking fountain restored to its former glory seems destined for success.
The parish council has already secured two-thirds of the £11,250 needed to restore the fountain on the village green.
It was gifted to the village in the late 1885 by Lady Augusta Poulett but it has suffered damage over the years, with its sandstone base becoming cracked, the bowl broken and the pump handle coming away.
Late last year the parish council made grant applications to Northumbrian Water, county councillors James Rowlandson and George Richardson, and Raby Estates.
Parish clerk Judith Mashiter told the last meeting that the bid for cash from Northumbrian Water had been lodged through the County Durham Foundation and the
grants from the county councillors would be decided during a meeting of Teesdale Action Partnership later that month.
She added: “Just this evening I had an email to say Lord Barnard is happy to donate £3,570, which is the amount we asked for. So that is one-third in place.”
She added that a heritage conservation officer from Durham County Council, who had inspected the fountain in the past, was happy to support the funding bids.
Teesdale Action Partnership subsequently voted in favour of granting £3,750 from the county councillors’ budget.
Partnership co-ordinator Adam White said the grant would be made once it had successfully completed a funding appraisal
The parish council had previously agreed to use some of its reserves to get the work done should any of the applications be rejected.
