London : drinking fountains

I was delighted to spot, completely by chance, these two lovely old drinking fountains during a recent visit to London. As I was out walking with friends, I couldn’t stop to get more detailed photos so have just a single image of each. I hope to return for a better look in the future.

George Sparkes Memorial Fountain

On the embankment, very close to Chelsea Old Church, is this 1880s memorial to George Sparkes

(1810-1878), who had worked as a judge in Madras for the East India Company and later bought a house in High Street, near the church.   

On his death, George Sparkes left his house and its extensive grounds, as well as a sizeable fortune (of £140,000) to his second wife, Emily Dowling (she had remarried). The drinking fountain, constructed of granite, was erected in April 1881, and bears two contemporary inscriptions, one in Latin and one in English:     

In Affectionate Remembrance of the Late
George Sparkes
Of Bromley in Kent Formerly Judge at Madras
In the East India Company’s Civil Service
A great and Good Man
Gifted with Every Refined Feeling
And Much Esteemed by All Who Knew Him
Died 30 January 1878
In His 68th Year
Erected by His Widow
A.D. 1880

The fountain was restored in 2016, as marked by another small plaque, which reads

The restoration of this fountain was undertaken by Transport for London and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.
The completion of the works was marked in a ceremony led by the Worshipful the Mayor of the Royal Borough, Councillor Robert Freeman on 18th May 2016

A document on the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea website notes that the fountain also has four cattle troughs, though this part of London was not at all rural in 1881 so, presumably, it was more likely that horses, dogs and other animals used the lower water troughs. The document puts the cost of the memorial at £525.

Marquess of Westminster Memorial Fountain

This second fountain, also in Chelsea, on the corner of Pimlico and Ebury Roads, is also a memorial, this one to Richard Grosvenor (1795-1869), 2nd Marquess of Westminster. 

He was, amongst other things, an MP for Chester and later for Cheshire (and South Cheshire, after electoral boundary changes); Lord Steward of the Household; and a member of the Privy Council.

When he wasn’t hunting, fishing and indulging his family’s interest in horse racing, according to Wikipedia, he ‘gave generously to charity, and built and restored churches.’     

The Historic England website notes that the memorial fountain was erected around 1870 and was made of Portland stone and pink and grey granite. The style is Italian Renaissance and it features:

projecting bowls now filled. Upper stage pilastered to corner with carved capitals. Shell niche to each side, lined with mosaic work incorporating inscription. Dentil cornice and key pattern frieze. Surmounted by buff terracotta urn.

The inscription, which is on the east face of the memorial, reads ‘In memory of Richard Second Marquess of Westminster died 1869’.