Atlas Fountain and Castle Howard, North Yorkshire

Best enlarged

Castle Howard is a stately home in North Yorkshire, England, 15 miles (24 km) north of York. It is a private residence, and has been the home of the Carlisle branch of the Howard family for more than 300 years.

Castle Howard is not a true castle, but this term is also used for English country houses erected on the site of a former military castle. It was where the Earl of Sandwich lived for a long time.

The Atlas Fountain and pond dates from 1850. It was exhibited at The Great Exhibition prior to installation.

It was designed by William Andrews Nesfield and the sculpted figures were carved in Portland stone by John Thomas who was paid £1183 10s 3d (equivalent to £109,910 in 2016) for his work. The figures were transported by rail from London to Castle Howard railway station.

The tazza, pedestals, shells and basin were made by local craftsmen. The water engineering was completed by James Easton, taking water from a stream in Coneysthorpe and using a steam engine to pump it uphill to the Ray Wood reservoir.

The fountain was turned on for the first time in October 1853.

A large globe of bronze dominates the fountain supported on the shoulders of Atlas. Four recumbent Tritons blow water through shells over Atlas kneeling on a pedestal in the central tazza. Other jets fill the lower scallop shell basins, which overflow into the central basin producing a dramatic cascade of white water.

The fountain is fed from the half-million gallon Ray Wood reservoir, to the east of the main house. Gravity feeds water into a chamber beneath the pond basin where pipes direct it to the main outlets in the Triton's shells.

The pond is approximately 27 metres (89 ft) in diameter.