Alton Towers’ Chinese Pagoda Fountain
Alton Towers’ (Chinese) Pagoda Fountain is a Grade II* listed, three-storey, octagonal, cast iron structure with twenty four hanging bells. The pagoda stands on an octagonal White Hollington sandstone base.
The cast iron structure was designed by Robert Abraham (1773–1850), who modelled it on the To-ho pagoda in Canton, Southern China. It was cast and built by the famous Coalbrookdale Iron Company. Work started on the pagoda in 1826 and was completed in 1832.
Over the years rust heave corrosion and settlement had cracked many of the castings. Although a complete dismantle and rebuild would have allowed us access to all areas, we were asked to conserve the structure in situ.
The Pagoda Fountain was dry blast cleaned to remove many layers of paint and rust and large quantities of filler materials. We then carried out a full inspection to determine its condition.
Following blast cleaning and acceptance of our subsequent priced repair strategy, we carried out repairs to numerous cast iron cracks using specialist welding and the introduction of mechanical bracing to retain loose decorative elements and to reinforce the structure where necessary.
We then sealed the joints to prevent water ingress before priming and painting the entire pagoda using our proprietary paint system, highlighting to match the original paint scheme. All twenty-four hanging bells were accentuated with gold paint.
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