Drinking Fountains organised thematically

During my survey of the extant MDFCTA fountains a number of common themes have emerged linking the various structures.

Drinking Fountains sorted by classification

Click here for a list of fountains that I have tentatively assigned to an MDFCTA structure number.

Click here for a list of fountains that are definitely MDFCTA structures but I have been able to correlate with an MDFCTA structure number.

Click here for a list of fountains that have the same size and shape as an MDFCTA fountain but don't match any structure in the MDFCTA records.

Click here for a list of fountains that I'm pretty confident are not MDFCTA structures, but have been included for completeness only.

A number of non MDFCTA fountains have been installed on railway station platforms.

Drinking Fountains sorted by design

The early MDFCTA fountains were specially designed. However, many different standard designs evolved and some example of these designs have survived. In increasing order of "design-number" examples of the following fountain designs still survive: design-7, design-8, design-12, design-21, design-22, design-25, design-26, design-28, design-29, design-44, design-45, design-47, design-50, design-51, design-55, design-59, design-60, design-63, design-68, design-74, design-75, design-81, design-82, design-88, design-94, design-103, design-104, design-113, design-114, design-115, design-123, design-124, design-124b, design-124c, design-138, design-140, design-146, design-147, design-156, design-157, design-167. Some examples of a special canopy design also still survive.

A special, all-metal fountain design was constructed for Kew Gardens.

Another special, all-metal fountain was designed for installation in the Royal Parks by Lutyens & Greenwood.

Two special fountains in Trafalgar Square were designed by Dykes Bower.

The modern "Novus" fountains can be wall or pillar mounted.

Some modern Halsey Taylor fountains have been installed.

Drinking Fountains sorted by inscription

The inscriptions on many fountains include either the name of the donor, or the person(s) to whom the structure was erected in memory of: Buxton; Gurney; Kirby; Montefiore. Orbell; Payne; Reardon; Spurrier Wright; Trotter. Many more MDFCTA fountains contain inscriptions that don't fit any pattern.

The installation of several drinking fountains involved the Victorian philanthropist John Passmore Edwards. More information on John Passmore Edwards can be found here.

A number of fountains contain inscriptions that contain various biblical quotations.

Many fountains were erected to commemorate the golden jubilee (1887), diamond jubilee (1897) and death (1901) of Queen Victoria and the coronation of King Edward VII (1902) and King George V (1911). Some of the Victorian fountains have been re-dedicated to commemorate more recent jubilees of of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II. Furthermore, a special fountain was erected to commemorate The Queen's coronation.

Many fountains contain the title of the MDFCTA as an inscription. A few modern fountains refer to the Drinking Fountain Association.

A few fountains were erected to commemorate anniversaries of the MDFCTA.

Drinking Fountains sorted by current status

Many thousands of the fountains supplied by the MDFCTA have been lost completely but I've found references and evidence of some of the lost fountains. In some cases only the concrete base remains to identify the position of a lost fountain.