Drinking Fountain in Churchyard of St Pancras Church, Regent's Park, London

Summary

A cast iron drinking fountain manufactured by Walter Macfarlane & Co. at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow, originally erected in St James’s Gardens between 1896 and 1914 and erected in its current location in 2021.

Description

DESCRIPTION: a cast iron drinking fountain formed from two detachable pieces: a bowl and a pedestal. The two pieces are held together by a pair of modern M12 bolts. The pedestal takes the form of a Gothic compound pier comprising a cluster of four circular shafts each with spiral flutes and a bulbous torus, which stand on a moulded, octagonal plinth. The pedestal is topped with a moulded, circular capital that supports a wide, circular bowl that has ornate, floral mouldings to its rim. The bowl supports an ogive lantern superstructure formed by four moulded ribs with scrolled finials. Three of these ribs are original while the fourth is a modern replacement cast as part of the fountain’s restoration in 2019. Between each of the ribs, scrolled mouldings form a tympanum with ornate floral motifs and a roundel with a rose relief. Only one of these tympanums is original; the other three are 2019 replacements. At the top of the lantern there is a tiered finial with more floral decoration. An embossed maker’s mark on the lower part of the base reads: WALTER MACFARLANE & Co SARACEN FOUNDRY GLASGOW.

History

The burial ground of the St James’s Church, Piccadilly closed in 1853. Around 1887 the former burial ground was laid out as St James’s Gardens at a cost of just under £3,000, with the Metropolitan Board of Works contributing half of the funds. The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association erected a drinking fountain in the south-west corner of the gardens, although it is not known if this was done at the same time the gardens were first laid out. The layout of the gardens is depicted on the 1:2500 Ordnance Survey (OS) map published in 1896 but the drinking fountain is not, despite other drinking fountains being marked at other nearby locations such as Euston Square. The fountain is shown in St James’s Gardens on the 1916 OS map, which was revised in 1914. This suggests the fountain was first erected between 1896 and 1914. In the 1980s the garden was re-landscaped with a new layout and the fountain was moved to the centre of the gardens, which is where it stood when it was first listed in 1987.

In 2012 the fountain was damaged as the result of an arson attack and broke into several fragments. Most of these fragments were recovered and placed into storage. In 2019 the fountain was restored using as much of the original fabric as possible but with a number of replacement components for the superstructure. In 2021 the restored fountain was erected in a new location in the churchyard to the south of the Church of St Pancras (NHLE: 1379062; Grade I).

The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association (MDFCTA) was founded in 1859, when it was originally named the Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association. Measures to reduce the spread of cholera in the 1850s led to the closure of town and village pumps and the erection of fountains to supply clean drinking water in public places. This was supported by the Temperance Movement, who saw the provision of clean water as helpful to the cause of reducing alcohol consumption. By 1870 the MDFCTA had erected hundreds of fountains and troughs across London. Despite the name, the organisation never served just London; fountains were ordered for locations across Britain and in New York and Sydney in the 1860s and 1870s. The MDFCTA was funded by donations, subscriptions and legacies, but by 1898 these proved insufficient to cover the association’s liabilities for maintenance charges and water rates. The majority of local authorities agreed to begin paying for water provision and maintenance of fountains in their areas, and the association’s costly works department was abolished. The legacy of the MDFCTA continues today as the Drinking Fountain Association, whose work has spread overseas.

The drinking fountain was cast by Walter Macfarlane & Co. Limited who were based at the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow. The company’s catalogues show that the casting design was available to order in 1885 and 1912. The company was one of the most important and prolific manufacturers of ornamental ironwork in Scotland. Walter Macfarlane I (1817-85) worked as a jeweller and apprentice blacksmith before spending a decade at the Moses, McCulloch & Co’s Cumberland Foundry. In 1850 he partnered with Thomas Russell and James Marshall to establish the Saracen Foundry. Macfarlane’s nephew and adopted son, Walter Macfarlane II (1853-1932) joined the company in 1871 and began to focus operations of applied design, commissioning the best Glasgow architects to create standardised castings with an emphasis on artistic utility and elegance. The company specialised in the production of drinking fountains, bandstands, lamp standards, pre-fabricated buildings and architectural ornaments and produced such structures for locations across the United Kingdom and the British Empire. The Saracen Foundry continued to operate until the mid-1960s. There are at least four other cast iron structures associated with Macfarlane & Co. on the NHLE: a Drinking Fountain in the Market Place, Wallingford (NHLE: 1182318; Grade II); a Public Urinal in Front Street, Castleford (NHLE: 1211358; Grade II); a Clock Tower in Ramsey (NHLE: 1301365; Grade II); and the elaborate Coronation Fountain in Broad Street, March (NHLE: 1216058; Grade II). However, more than 80 cast iron listed structures have been attributed to Macfarlane & Co., and the true number is thought to be several hundred.

The fountain sits in the context of many fine historic buildings including the Church of St Pancras (NHLE: 1379062; Grade I), the Hilton Hotel London Euston and Attached Railings (NHLE: 1379065; Grade II), Two Lamp Posts in Woburn Walk (NHLE: 1379211; Grade II), 4-18 and 4A-18A Woburn Walk (NHLE: 1379210; Grade II*), 1-9 and 9A Woburn Walk (NHLE: 1379209; Grade II*), 2-16 Dukes Road (NHLE: 1342088; Grade II*), and The Place and Attached Railings (NHLE: 1342089; Grade II).

Reasons for Listing

The Drinking Fountain in the Churchyard of St Pancras Church, originally erected in St James’s Gardens between 1896 and 1914 and re-erected in its current location in 2021, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural Interest:
* as a good example of a cast iron drinking fountain produced by the celebrated Macfarlane & Co. Saracen Foundry.

Historic Interest:
* for its association with the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association and their provision of clean drinking water from 1859 onwards.

External Links

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