Horse and cattle drinking trough
adjacent to 73 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6BT
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464574
- Date first listed:
- 05-Nov-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Horse and cattle drinking trough
- Statutory Address:
- adjacent to 73 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6BT
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1464574
- Date first listed:
- 05-Nov-2019
- List Entry Name:
- Horse and cattle drinking trough
- Statutory Address 1:
- adjacent to 73 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6BT
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- adjacent to 73 Pitfield Street, London, N1 6BT
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Hackney (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ3303982926
Summary
A MDF&CTA standardised type 1c granite drinking trough donated by Edith H Melvill and erected in 1910 in memory of the family dog Jill.
Reasons for Designation
The horse and cattle trough, Pitfield Street, Hackney is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
Architectural interest:
* as a good example of one of the MDF&CTA’s standardised designs.
Historic interest:
* as an eloquent, and now rare, reminder of the now-vanished presence of animals on our streets.
History
In the C19 provision began to be made for drinking troughs for cattle, horses and dogs, and these were often provided by charitable associations. These included The Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association (MDF&CTA), founded in 1859 as The Metropolitan Free Drinking Fountain Association, the name altered in 1867 to include troughs. They were responsible for over a thousand troughs in Britain and overseas, about half of which were located in London. Early troughs of iron or wood are particularly rare, and were usually replaced from the 1860s by granite, mainly dating from the late C19, mostly following a simple set design.
The trough was donated by Edith H Melvill , who was the daughter of Henry and Elizabeth Melvill. He was an officer in the Bengal Cavalry and took part in the suppression of the 1875 Indian mutiny. His wife and children returned to live in England in 1871. The trough is dedicated to a ‘beloved friend’. This was the family pet dog Jill who had died in 1908-9. This is not explicitly inscribed on the trough as the Secretary of the MDF&CTA, Captain Simpson, persuaded them to remove the word dog from the inscription, due to heightened tension because of the vivisection riots in 1906-1909.
The trough first appears on the 1951 Ordnance Survey and appears to be in its original location.
Details
Cattle trough and drinking fountain, 1910.
MATERIALS: granite.
DESCRIPTION: the trough is an example of a type 1c granite drinking trough, and is approximately 9ft 6in long. It is made of granite and consists of a water tank on squat rectangular granite piers. The spout and pump mechanism is missing.
An inscription bearing the name of the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association is engraved, as well as a dedication which reads 'IN MEMORY OF / A BELOVED FRIEND 1910'
Sources
Books and journals
Davis, P, Troughs and Drinking Fountains, (1989)
Finn, M, Smith, K, The East India Company at Home 1757-1857, (2017)
Websites
Metroplitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association, accessed 16 May 2019 from http://mdfcta.co.uk/details/t044.html
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 19-Jun-2026 at 20:48:36.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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