Annis and George Bills

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Bills horse troughs In the Village Voice August 2008

Just received a photo of this Bills trough which is in the Dean Recreation Reserve Thanks Russ for sending me this photo.

This Bills trough is in the Main Road of Bunyip Victoria

Bills Horse Trough at the Castlemaine Pony Club Wattle Flat Reserve. Richards Road

This Bills Horse trough is situated in the rear yard of the Veterinary  Clinic 185 Whitehorse Road on the corner of May Street, The Clinic  is owned by Dr Hugh Wirth,  The President of the RSPCA of Victoria.

This Bills Horse trough  is located in the ground of the Parklands Primary School in Blossom Park Drive

This photo  above shows the trough with Annis and George Bills Australia engraved into the side of it

I recently came across this old horse trough in a village called Englefield Green in Surrey, England near Runnymede.

The inscription on the granite trough is "George and Annis Bills - Australia". According to my research the trough in Englefield Green was set up in 1931. Being made of granite I guess they can survive most weather conditions although a few in South-East London were destroyed by the bombing in World War 2.

The granite troughs were made in 3 sizes: 6'6" as in the one from Surrey; 9'6" like the one in Mansfield, Victoria, Australia, and monsters at 18' - there's an example of one of these in the main meat market (Smithfield) in central London. {Photo below.}
The trough is on St. Jude's Road which is the main road going through the village.

As far as I can tell the main oblong part of the troughs was always a single section of granite. That even includes some 18 feet monsters such as the one attached near Smithfield Meat Market in the City of London (you can see the "Grand Hall" of the meat market in the background. Granite in these troughs in  England is available in the "west country" (Cornwall)and in Scotland. The city of Aberdeen in Scotland is known as the "granite city".

This information has been sent to me from Alan Underwood who lives in London and is  currently trying to track down all the remaining Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association troughs in London and the South-East of England. See http://www.londontroughs.co.uk. George recommends you take the time to view this web site.