Find the Fairies on the Fountain

Take a stroll through Maryborough’s Queens Park, and you’ll find a little slice of whimsy in the form of the Fairy Fountain that was one of the features of the 1888 Glasgow exhibition.

A Scot immigrant, Andrew Melville, left most of his fortune to his loved sister Janet when he died in 1882. Janet made generous bequests to Maryborough when she died in 1888 left 500 pounds for a memorial to her brother.

Trustees spotted the fountain at Glasgow and bought it. An ornate pavilion at the big show was also bought as a shelter for the fountain but it cheerfully shot water into the ceiling. After five years the fountain was moved from the pavilion to its current site, leaving the pavilion to become a band rotunda.

The name Fairy Fountain is a bit of a mystery as three crane sculptures and a cherub dominate the design, and water spouted from fierce griffin heads on the central column below the fancy tiers, but nary a fairy is to be seen.

After falling into disrepair over 100 years, the fountain was restored by the council and Olds Engineering as a Bicentennial project.

The cherub at the top had lost whatever he was holding and no information or images could be found. It was deduced that it was probably a trumpet so that was duly cast and set in his golden hands. Soon after a postcard from the early 1900s was found showing the cherub holding a horn of plenty. The replacement was quickly cast at Olds Foundry and the little guy at the top lost his trumpet but regained his more authentic horn.

Restoration included a Rotary project to build raised gardens and a brick path around the fountain. Funds were raised with donations from businesses and individuals whose names are stamped into the bricks.