The Victorian Fountain
Oxford, GB
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The octagonal Victorian Fountain, standing at The Plain roundabout, marks a historic gateway to East Oxford, just east of Magdalen Bridge. Gifted to the city by Mr and Mrs G Herbert Morrell of Morrell's Brewery, this charming structure was unveiled on 25 May 1899 by Princess Louise, Queen Victoria's daughter, to commemorate both the Queen's Diamond Jubilee and her 80th birthday. Designed by architect E.P. Warren, who also contributed to several Oxford colleges and the Eastgate Hotel, its distinctive shape echoes a former toll house that once occupied the site. Though it no longer supplies drinking water for people, horses, and dogs as it originally did, its four-faced clock still functions, topped by a gilded weather vane.
Constructed from Portland and York stone with Milton stone columns and a Stonesfield slate roof, the fountain is a testament to late Victorian craftsmanship. Its site has a rich past, previously hosting the medieval St Clement's Church and later an 18th-century toll house. Restored in 2009 by the Oxford Preservation Trust and Oxford City Council, the fountain is now illuminated at night, enhancing its role as a cherished local landmark at a busy junction leading to St Clement's, Cowley Road, and Iffley Road. While visiting, take a moment to appreciate the Latin inscription around the clock tower, which translates to "The water drips, the hours go by. Be warned, drink, catch them ‘ere they fly."
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