Glasgow’s Loch Katrine water supply is narrated in an elaborate Gothic fountain of stone, bronze and coloured ceramic.
Quick facts
- Date
- Built 1872; pipe repairs reported 2025
- Architect / designer
- James Sellars; sculpture by John Mossman; bronzes by H. Pringle & Company
- Type
- High Victorian fountain with stone, bronze, marble, granite and majolica
- Designation
- Listed building, Category A (LB32213)
- OS grid reference
- NS 57184 66235
Architecture and continuing use
Three rising basins, flying buttresses and seated lions support a central bronze woman. Portrait and narrative bronze panels, zodiacal majolica roundels and varied stones create dense layers of civic symbolism.
Its story
The fountain commemorates Lord Provost Robert Stewart and the municipal scheme that brought clean water from Loch Katrine. Glasgow continues to repair its historic pipework and drains it before winter to limit frost damage.
Why it is included
Category A architecture, public-health history and verified continuing maintenance make it one of Glasgow’s most instructive park monuments.
What to notice
- Narrative bronze panels about Loch Katrine and Glasgow.
- Lions beneath the flying buttresses.
- Coloured zodiac roundels set into the middle basin.
Reading the surroundings
Use public park paths and keep out of the basin. Water flow is seasonal and maintenance barriers may be present.
Timeline
- Built 1872 The fountain commemorates Lord Provost Robert Stewart and the municipal scheme that brought clean water from Loch Katrine. Glasgow continues to repair its historic pipework and drains it before winter to limit frost damage.
- Present Seasonally operated public fountain and monument maintained in Kelvingrove Park.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Original pipework requires intermittent repair; the fountain should not be assumed to run continuously.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Stewart Memorial Fountain, LB32213 — Designation status, mapped location, construction phases, fabric, authorship and architectural or historical interest.
- Glasgow Life: Glasgow’s fountains — Municipal water history and current interpretation of the Stewart Memorial Fountain.
- Glasgow City Council: 2025 fountain maintenance update — Recent pipe repairs, seasonal drain-down and continuing maintenance.
Stewart Memorial Fountain. Photograph: LornaMCampbell, 19 October 2018. CC BY-SA 4.0.
