The Willowmere Grey French Provincial Pedestal Bird Bath, Weathered Grey Cast Iron 58cm

A proper pedestal bird bath, with one bird already on the rim.

The Willowmere is a pedestal bird bath cast in solid iron and finished in a weathered grey stone patina: a wide shallow scalloped dish with a small bird perched on the rim, wings half open, carried on a slender turned column with knops and fluting rising from a round fluted foot. It weighs 5.6 kg, which is the difference between cast iron and the resin and pressed-metal baths that copy this shape.

At 58cm tall and 30cm across the dish it is a real bird bath rather than an ornament of one. The dish holds a proper shallow depth of water, the height keeps it clear of cats, and the weight keeps it standing in wind. Built for outdoor life, and the patina is a finish rather than a fault, so weather deepens it instead of wearing it out.

Why we love it

• ◆It actually works, a genuine shallow dish at the right height and the right depth for small birds, not a decorative saucer
• ◆The perched bird, a small bird cast onto the rim with its wings half open, which draws real ones in
• ◆The column, turned with knops and fluting the whole way down to a round fluted foot, in the old cast iron manner
• ◆The finish, chalky whitish lime bloom on the raised edges dropping to cool slate in the recesses, and it only improves outdoors

How to style it

A bird bath earns its place by being seen from inside, so site it for your window first and the garden second.

• Put it within clear view of a kitchen or living room window
• Keep it a metre or two from dense shrubs so birds can see what is coming
• Give it a bare branch or a fence rail nearby as a waiting perch
• Site it in dappled shade rather than full afternoon sun so the water stays cool
• Pair it with Farmer Barnaby, our hare holding a feed dish

Care & Keeping

Tip it out and rinse it every few days in warm weather, the same as any bird bath, and scrub it with a stiff brush and plain water if it greens up. No detergent, birds drink from it. The patina is a finished surface and needs no sealing. In frost, empty it rather than letting a full dish freeze.

Because The Willowmere is hand-finished, slight variations in patina, texture, and grain are natural and add to the unique character of each piece. Colour may also vary slightly between screens, all photography is taken in natural light.