This modernist fountain sculpture has stood outside Neptune House at ATV Elstree Studios (later the BBC Elstree Centre, and now Fairbanks Studios) since the early 1960s. We were recently asked to find out more about the sculpture and who created it, on behalf of the studio, and we’re happy to share our research here.

Commissioned by ATV from British sculptor Keith Godwin, the work is recorded in his catalogue as “Fountain at ATV Elstree Studios”. It is a fine example of commissioned sculptural art created specifically for a working television studio — far less well known than BBC public artworks such as “Prospero and Ariel” at Broadcasting House, or “Helios” at BBC Television Centre, which were deliberately sited for public visibility.

Godwin was a noted sculptor of mid-century art, and his other works include “Pastorale” (1956) in Ham, London, and “Guy and the Boar” (1964) in Warwick. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Royal Society of British Artists, and was president of Manchester Academy of Fine Arts between 1978 and 1983.

With the demolition of Fairbanks and Neptune House, the fountain will not be lost. Instead, the intention is for it to be carefully transplanted and preserved on site, becoming part of the new landscape of Fairbanks Studios. Its relocation ensures that a tangible piece of the ATV era survives into this studio’s next chapter, and a piece of mid-century art will be preserved.

Installed when ATV built Neptune House as a modern headquarters, the fountain reflects a moment when studios invested not only in production infrastructure, but in architecture, landscape, and art — embedding creative values into the everyday environment of television-making.

As the site continues to evolve, this sculpture remains a physical link between Elstree’s past and future.