Meet Me by the Fountain

Meet Me by the Fountain was a son-et-lumière installation that returned Romford’s lost Liberty fountain to life. Light, projection and sound rippled across the market square as night fell, tracing almost 800 years of a town’s history: from the ice sheets and ancient forest that shaped the land, through Henry III’s 1247 proclamation of the market, its Cockney language and new arrivals from the East End, its fragility through two World Wars, its rebuilding as a market for the people, and its decades at the heart of outer London’s clubbing and rave culture. It moved through ten chapters, closing on a premonition of the market’s 800th anniversary and a question: what must we preserve, what must we remake, and how do we carry the heart of Romford forward?

None of it was told from the outside. The voices carrying the story were Romford’s own. Local resident Bruce, aged 82, lent his voice to the piece’s most poignant chapter, on the two World Wars and the scars they left on the town’s streets. Nineteen-year-old Inés brought her energy to the chapter on Romford’s nightlife, from 1970s disco to 1990s rave. The Romford Drum and Trumpet Corps and the bell ringers of St Edward’s Church performed live as part of the piece, and Havering resident Imogen Heap gave permission to rework her own voice for the closing epilogue, which filled the air as the bells of St Edward’s called the market home. Folk singers Nick Hart, Jolene Missing and Tom Moore recorded a newly written version of “The Romford Ram,” returning an old wandering ballad to the market named within it.

Created by David Shearing and presented by Havering London, the installation was scored by composer James Bulley and brought into image by video projection studio Novak, with text by Vickie Donoghue and narration by Debra Baker. Meet Me by the Fountain premiered at Romford Market on 28 and 29 August 2026, with performances at 8.30pm and 9.30pm each evening, as part of Greenwich + Docklands International Festival.

Supporting Partners

Presented by Havering London, in partnership with Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, and supported by Arts Council England, the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Havering Council, Romford BID and Historic England.