Ready Money Drinking Fountain, Regents Park — Attraction in London

The Ready Money Drinking Fountain (1875) is Regent's Park's most charming oddity – a whimsical Gothic Revival monument topped with a heron, where both humans and dogs once drank together! Though no longer functional, its intricate carvings (look for the lizard and squirrel details) and historical plaque make it a delightful pitstop near the boating lake.

Why it’s special:

A rare surviving "double fountain" (separate tiers for people/pets)

Donated by philanthropist Sir Cowasjee Jehangir, whose Bombay shipping fortune funded London’s clean water movement

Perfect photo op during rose garden visits

Tip: Find the hidden inscription: "The gift of Ready Money Cowasjee Jehangir of Bombay." Pair with a stroll to Queen Mary’s...

Ready Money was a wealthy Parsee industrialist from Bombay who donated it to The Regent's Park in 1869 as a thank-you for the protection that he and fellow Parsees received from British rule in India. The sculpture contains 10 tonnes of Sicilian marble and four tonnes of red Aberdeen granite. It was unveiled by Princess Mary of Teck, later Queen Mary after whom Queen Mary's...

Exemplifying Late Victorian taste for both Gothic embellishment and visible civic gesture, this Grade II Listed concoction still stands lonely vigil at a pathway junction. Recommissioning the drinking fountain at this dominant location would prove a providential and...