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 Youlgreave Fountain doesn’t look anything like a fountain. It is a round stone structure near the post office on the main street.
The Fountain is, or rather was, a collecting tank. It was built in 1829 for the village’s private water supply. Before this time the villagers relied on springs and river water.
The stone tank is 9 feet (3 m) high and was built to hold 1,500 gallons (6,800 litres) of water.
Only villagers who paid six pence (2.5p) a year could use the Fountain. It was locked up overnight so it would be full by 6 am. Then the water-keeper unlocked the tap for the waiting queue of villagers. Buckets filled so slowly that women used to bring their knitting to pass the time.
Water was eventually piped into the houses but the Fountain was left standing. One villager recalls that there wasn’t a lad in Youlgreave who hadn’t sat on the top with his mates – ‘perched up there like a row of pigeons’.
Youlgreave Water Company is now one of the few private water companies in existence.
External Link:
The Bugle: Youlgreave Community News
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