Drinking Fountain in Highgate Wood

The Drinking Fountain in Highgate Wood is a public drinking fountain built in 1888. It features a pink Peterhead granite obelisk with chamfered angles, which stands over a broad basin supported by a square plinth on an octagonal base; the lower parts are made of grey granite. Inside the plinth, there is a narrow dog trough. On the west side of the obelisk, there is a bronze plaque that reads, "The Gift of a few Friends. Erected 1888." Below this, another plaque features an inscription from Coleridge: "Drink, Pilgrim, here! Here rest! And if thy heart / Be innocent, here too shalt thou refresh / Thy spirit, listening to some gentle sound / Or passing gale or hum of murmuring bees!"

This fountain is a charming example of public drinking fountains, erected shortly after Highgate Woods was opened as a public open space in 1886. Samuel Taylor Coleridge had strong ties to Highgate, having lived there from 1816 until his death in 1834, and he is buried in the area.