Drinking Fountain, Birrarung Marr

I must have ridden past this spot in Birrarung Marr on the north bank of the Yarra a hundred times or more and yet this morning I noticed this former drinking fountain for the first time.

I've previously written about similar fountains on Brunton Avenue close to the walkway linking Birrarung Marr to Yarra Park and a second Brunton Avenue near Punt Road Oval.

There was also one in Hardy Reserve at the back of Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton and yet another on the other side of Princes Park in Reynolds Reserve off Royal Parade.

This one is inscribed with the name Stapley Parade and although the overall shape is the same as the Brunton Avenue and Hardy Reserve fountains, the decoration is different, less Art Deco in style.

The opening n the body of the fountain, to my eye, is more organic than the other fountains. Perhaps dating this fountain to a pre-deco period.

Likewise the decoration on two side of the plinth on top of the fountain does not have the strict geometric shapes of the other fiountains.

I wonder how many other of these fountains are out there that I may have passed and not taken in. I've been told there is one in Northcote so perhaps there are others also.