Victoria Fountain
Victoria Fountain, The Plain
The completion of the restoration and architectural lighting of the Victoria Fountain was marked with a celebration on 17 March 2009. We have been delighted by the success of this partnership project, carried out by Oxford City Council and OPT, with grants from Magdalen College and CPRE Oxfordshire BPT. We are grateful to the City’s East Area Parliament for their support throughout.
The Victoria Fountain is an octagonal stone structure with eight columns under a tiled roof, designed as a drinking fountain, with copper‐lined basins and outside troughs for horses. The conical roof is topped with a cupola with its well-used four-faced clock and weather vane.
The Morrell family donated the funds for the building to celebrate Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee of 1897, commissioning E P Warren, architect of the Eastgate Hotel and the Outpatients’ Building at the Radcliffe Infirmary. The Plain has much hidden history. The Victoria Fountain stands on the site of the former toll-house (demolished in 1874) which was built in front of the original St Clement’s Church (demolished and rebuilt on Marston Road in 1830) on the site of what is now The Plain roundabout.
Victoria Fountain - Cupola
The restoration project included stone cleaning, roof repairs and repairs to the wind vane and clock, and redecoration of the timber clock cupola. During the project we were delighted to gain access to the original drawings by E.P. Warren, thanks to Dr Malcolm Graham of Oxfordshire Studies, who found them in the Town Hall. These show all the detailing of the missing weather vane, now recreated by Graham Parry, who recently did similar work at Headington Hill Hall. It also allowed us to return the clock tower to its original colour.
The project also included an architectural lighting scheme, funded by OPT, and installation of a plaque telling something of the history of the building and wider area. A leaflet will also shortly be available to download from our website.
We have had many comments about the positive impact of the restoration scheme on the area, in the gateway to East Oxford, and are pleased to have been able to take part in the project.
© 2002-9, Oxford Preservation Trust 