Symbolic as the setting for one of the most memorable moments in Brideshead Revisited the Atlas Fountain at Castle Howard is spouting forth again after major restoration work.

The severe winter weather accelerated the need for around £30,000 worth of conservation work. Delicate sections of the famous fountain, such as scallop shells and fish scales, sheared off as the frost tightened its icy grip.

Malton-based building conservationists, The Earth Stone and Lime were commissioned to graft on new pieces of stone, as well as repairing and making fully watertight the main structure of the fountain, in its first major overhaul since 1983.

The Atlas Fountain has iconic status for the roll it played as the setting for Sebastian and Charles’s skinny-dip in both the television and film adaptations of Evelyn Waugh’s novel Brideshead Revisited.

For surveyor Claire Tarrant, recently-appointed head of building services at Castle Howard, this has been her first “big project” since taking on responsibility for the upkeep of the estate’s historic gems.

“Yes, the fountain has iconic status for its role in Brideshead Revisited,” says Claire.
“But there’s much more to the Atlas Fountain. It’s the absolute centrepiece of the grounds - a remarkable piece of sculpture of world class importance. To say world class is no exaggeration. Its design, coupled with the Portland stone it’s made from, is utterly spectacular.”

The fountain is named after Atlas, one of the mythological titans of Greece. His burden was to support the heaven with his shoulders. His image is the main focal point of the fountain, which was commissioned by the 7th Earl of Carlisle in 1850 from the landscape gardener William Andrews Nesfield.

The figures of the surrounding titans, or sea gods, were carved by the sculptor John Thomas and transported from London to Castle Howard by railway. In October 1853 the fountain was turned on for the first time.

Four large jets of water are blown through the tritons’ shells, to cool the hard-working giant Atlas, while 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 reservoir at the top of the hill in Ray Wood, to the east of the main house. Gravity pushes the water into the chamber beneath the basin. From here a set of pipes direct it through various nozzles to produce the magnificent jets, sprays, and cascades.

Click here to find out more about Castle Howard's restoration and conservation programme.