By Cathy Jones
An interesting feature of Ford Park in Strathfield South is the Jessie Broomfield Memorial Water Fountain for Dogs. The purpose of the water fountain was intended for the convenience of dogs, not people.
When Jessie Stuart Broomfield died in 1935, her will not only bequeathed that money be distributed to various homes and institutions for dogs in the city of Sydney, but that that drinking fountains and troughs for dogs be erected with her name inscribed on them.
In 1941, the Trustees of the Estate advised Enfield Council that Jessie Bloomfield had requested that drinking fountain or water trough for dogs be placed in either Jackson or Ford Park. This work was completed in 1948 in Ford Park. Another Jessie Broomfield fountain is located on Anzac Parade, La Perouse.
Strathfield Heritage 
As a young teenager living in Dean St Enfield, Ford Park was my local haunt, exercising horses on the grass, exploring along the canal with friends. In 1969, when I visited the family home, mum & I would take my first baby daughter to play on the roundabout & swings (all the playground equipment there at that time).
I don’t really recall the dog fountain as such, but it’s such a sophisticated design, I wouldn’t be surprised if my friends & I had used it more than once as a ‘people’ bubbler!
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