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This fountain was originally installed at the top end of Shaftesbury Avenue, at what is now, 2026, Ted Baker's Grooming Room. It, and 2 telephone boxes, were on the pavement in front of the east-facing end wall.  The London Picture Archive have a , quite possibly taken to record its position shortly before it was moved to Princes Circus. It was presented by the St Giles Board of Works in 1897.  A .

We'd give odds that most Londoners have never heard of Princes Circus but it's there on the map, at the junction of Shaftesbury Avenue, St Giles High Street and High Holborn. When we first spotted this sturdy fountain it was looking rather sorry for itself, cowering on the south-east corner of Shaftesbury Avenue and New Oxford Street, a junction which was being refurbished. When we went back to photograph it, it had vanished, only to be rediscovered some weeks later in its new home where it is fenced in, perhaps to stop it running off again?

December 2023: John Cole wrote to us: "The Princes Circus Drinking Fountain is meant to have been reinstated as part of Camden’s West End Project. The project is now finished but where is the fountain?" Indeed, Google Street View shows that the fountain disappeared sometime between May and July 2021.  Apparently the return of the fountain is being held up because Camden (responsible for the structure) want the requirement for it to dispense water removed from the planning consent. Buying water in single-use plastic bottles makes so much more sense.

January 2026: Jane let us know that the fountain is now back in place, in front of the Shaftesbury Theatre, slightly north-east of its previous location. the inscription faces south and, as feared, there is no water, there are not even any spouts. on its return.

February 2026: We took photos of the fountain in its new location but decided not to use them. Google Maps will soon show it, and even exactly where it will be. We like the way the surface in our current photo has caught the light.