Manual Ref* SUseBE002 Show 3 images 674
Title*

Abbey Gardens Horse Trough
County Suffolk   District Council St Edmundsbury Borough Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent Bury St Edmunds  Town/Village* Bury St Edmunds 
Road Abbey Gardens 
Precise Location On the path leading from the entrance of the Abbey Gardens to the memorial rose garden 
OS Grid Ref TL855641  Postcode IP33 
Previous location(s) Originally placed on the Traverse in 1870 
Setting On a footpath between two flower gardens.  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Charles Kirk  Architect(s)   

Commissioned by

 3rd Marquis of Bristol, Augustus Hervey 

Design & Constrn period

  

Date of installing

 1939 

Exact date of unveiling

 01/04/1939 

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type:

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Hexagonal base  granite  H: 10cm x L: 90cm x Diameter: 189cm 
Trough  Portland  H: 97cm x Diameter: 90cm 
Shaft  Portland  H: 388cm x Diameter: 10cm 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

 St Edmundsbury Borough Council 

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: Some detail on the carved dolphin decoration is worn. Shaft is worn, but has recently been cleaned.

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail: Spout missing on South-east side. Some cracking to stone of south west dolphin. 2 decorative nuts missing.

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks Kirk & Parry 
Inscriptions MONET ANNUS ET ALMUM QUAE RADIT HORA DIEM (Horace 4.07: the year and the hour removes kindly day). 

Description (physical)

 Former horse trough. It sits on a hexagonal base, above which is the bowl of the trough. Extending from the centre of the trough is a column with enriched Ionic capital and a rectangular pedestal supporting a funerary urn. The trough contains 3 bowls, each of which is decorated with dolphins. There is a brass sundial on the south side of the column. The overall effect is slightly incongruous, either because the column may have been a re-used spoil or because of having to combine a memorial with a drinking trough. 

Description (iconographical)

 The horse trough was given by the 3rd Marquis of Bristol to help travellers and commemorate his father, the 2nd Marquis. It originally stood on a through road, the Traverse, where it allowed for horses to be tethered, as travellers stopped at a nearby inn. The trough now forms a flower bed, and stands between two flower gardens. It was moved after the Traverse was opened up to cars. 

Photographs

 Date taken:  25/3/2007
Date logged:  27/3/2007

Photographed by:
David Hulks

On Site Inspection

 Date:  25/3/2007

Inspected by:
Paul White

Sources and References

 Bury and Norwich Post, 15/6/1869. Bury Free Press, 12/4/1939. http://www.imagesofengland.org.uk/search/details.aspx?pid=2&id=466467, accessed on the 20/6/07. 

Database

 Date entered:  20/6/2007

Data inputter:
Paul White