Sedgwick was a British geologist and Anglican priest, one of the founders of modern geology. The memorial drinking fountain is sited in the village of Dent where he was born.
These limestone river-bed slabs were once used by the clothmakers of Dent to cleanse their wool and knitted products. Robert Southey wrote about the 'terrible knitters of Dent', in the sense of how fearfully fast they knitted! See http://www.daelnet.co.uk/features/knitting/history4.htm