CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · General Reference

Philip Twells Memorial Fountain

drinking fountain in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London

Cross-disciplinary reference desk with index cards, atlas, dictionary and catalogue
General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJan 30, 2026
Entity authorityQ27086727 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Philip Twells Memorial Fountain is a memorial and drinking fountain located at the south-east corner of Lincoln's Inn Fields in London. It is Grade II listed by English Heritage.

The fountain was built to commemorate Philip Twells, who was an Member of Parliament for the City of London as well as a barrister for the nearby Lincoln's Inn. The fountain was erected in 1880 after Twells' death, commissioned by his wife, its design rendered in granite.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Philip Twells Memorial Fountain” as drinking fountain in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1880—that can be checked directly. The authority record carries competing date values—1880, 1882—which should remain separate until their references and qualifiers are resolved. The account is most persuasive where Philip, Twells and Memorial can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as drinking fountain in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jan 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q27086727. Authority coordinates are 51.516, -0.115. 1 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1880.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Philip Twells Memorial Fountain”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Philip Twells Memorial Fountain primary sources, Philip Twells Memorial Fountain archive and Philip research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Philip Twells Memorial Fountain”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Philip Twells Memorial Fountain” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.