Youngstorget Fountain, Youngstorget Square, Oslo, Norway (A replica Handyside fountain made by "street castings Ltd" of Raynesway Derby in 1996)

 Youngstorget Fountain, Youngstorget Square, Oslo, Norway (A replica Handyside fountain made by "street castings Ltd" of Raynesway Derby in 1996)

Here is a perfect example of why it's important to do plenty of research. In Youngstorget Square, Oslo, Norway there is what looks like a Andrew Handyside fountain but the reality is that it’s a replica of the 1862 Stavanger Fountain in Norway which is a Handyside one.

Youngstorget did actually have a Handyside fountain gifted in 1873, it survived until World War II, German forces removed the fountain in 1942 and threw it into the sea in Oslo’s harbour.

Here is a photograph of that original Handyside fountain from the 1920's : 

It was never recovered or located. During the square’s redevelopment in the 1990s, the city decided to restore its old fountain and asked a Derby firm to help.

The replica in Youngstorget Square was made in 1996 by Street Castings, Raynesway, Derby. So it's quite interesting that it was actually also made in Derby!

This replica Handyside fountain is listed as Design Number 19 on Page 18 of the 1879 publication "An Illustrated book of Designs for Fountains and Vases, costing from £1 to £1200 manufactured by Andrew Handyside".

Here is a news article about this replica fountain published 30 years ago in the Derby Evening Telegraph on 22nd January 1996 :

Firm’s 130-year export for Oslo "FOUNTAIN OF TALENTS"

A FOUNDRY has received a £60,000 order from Norway to recreate a fountain built in Derby more than 130 years ago.

Ernest Swift (37), operations director of Street Castings, Raynesway, Derby, has just returned from a fact-finding mission after the request came from councillors in Oslo.

Distributors working for Street Scene, another branch of the company which mainly sells cast-iron street furniture, were given the request while working in the Scandinavian city.

Oslo councillors were envious of a fountain in another Norwegian town, Stavanger, and wanted to recreate it in their capital city.

They discovered the fountain in Stavanger was originally built in 1862 by A. Handyside and Co, of Chester Green.

Managing director of Street Scene, David Thorpe, said: “When the people in Oslo found out, they thought it would be an excellent idea to get their new fountain done here.

“They knew the Stavanger one had been built in Derby and thought it would be a nice idea to get it done in the same city as it was going to be a copy.”

Mr Swift flew to Stavanger with a designer to take pictures of the fountain and make initial sketches.

He added: “We want to make the Oslo fountain as near to the original as possible and it has been quite a job, but we think the finished product will be excellent.”

When the fountain is finished the Derby Company will arrange for it to be shipped over to Norway.

By the time it is installed the total bill for the Oslo council will be close to £100,000.

The order will not create any new jobs. However, Mr Thorpe said: “We have already had two more inquiries from organisations in Norway about our work.”

There are three fountains in Norway, this replica one and two genuine original Handyside ones.

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Thanks

Andy