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The Jubilee Fountain, in Albert Square, was designed to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee in 1897 and also to replace a temporary fountain commemorating the new supply of drinking water to Manchester from Thirlmere in the Lake District in 1894.

The three-basin fountain, in granite and sandstone, was designed by Thomas Worthington. The sculptor John Cassidy modelled the bronze gargoyle spouts and a bronze dolphin which decorated the top of the fountain. The fountain was first turned on by the Lord Mayor, Robert Gibson, in January 1898. Its cost was estimated at between £1000 and £1200.

In the 1920s the fountain was moved to Heaton Park where it stood on the south side of Heaton Hall and where, over the following 70 years, it fell into disrepair. However after being restored the fountain was returned to its original location between the statues of Bright and Fraser in Albert Square in 1997.

The fountain is Grade II-listed (English Heritage List entry Number: 1200811 Link Historic England)