The St Lawrence and Mary Magdalene Drinking Fountain is a
very ornate example of the hundreds of drinking fountains which appeared all
over the capital to provide clean drinking water and a healthy alternative to
popping in the pub. Originally this
watering hole stood in the guildhall yard outside the church of St Lawrence
Jewry from 1866-1970.
One of the reliefs depicts the miracle of Moses providing
water for the Israelites,
“Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in
Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it,
that the people may drink…”
Above Moses is the statue of St Lawrence the martyr (c.
225-258) holding a large gridiron in one hand.
The Roman Emperor demanded that Lawrence, one of the deacons of Rome,
gather the riches of the church and bring them to him. Lawrence quickly gave everything away to the
poor, and arrived at the Emperor’s door empty handed claiming that the people
were the riches of the church. The
Emperor had him put to death on a gridiron over hot coals. The legend claims he cried out “I’m well
done. Turn me over!”
The fountain was restored and relocated here in 2010.
This is an excerpt from the FREE tour St Paul's Precincts found on www.obelisktours.co.uk
No comments:
Post a Comment