McDonell Drinking Fountain, Esplanade Row West

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Opposite the Town Hall near the High Court inside the West Bengal State Legislature grounds, this Neo-Gothic monument commemorates Sir William Fraser McDonell. A member of the Indian Civil Service, he received the Victoria Cross for “great coolness and bravery” {which is on display in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum, London} for saving 35 members of the British Troops from the “incessant enemy fire” that showered down on their boat during the retreat of the from Arrah.

The drinking fountain has a lion’s head as a spout and a brass trough at the base. You can still see the dates 1850 and 1886, the period between which McDonell served in India. Today, the monument is unfortunately in a deplorable state with its identifying markers fading away into nothingness. Part of the carved lion spout is broken and the water has long run dry. The railing around it is even used by locals to dry their laundry.