IT WAS nice to have a picture of the newly spruced-up fountain on The Plain (Oxford Mail, March 26, but what a pity about the building to its right.

I remember when there used to be quite an attractive house here, with decorative balconies that overlooked the river.

My wife tells me that it was the family home of the actress Miriam Margoyles, whose father was a doctor.

When they started to remove the remaining graves from the old St Clement’s churchyard, just prior to this being converted into a roundabout, I got the impression that the whole of the island was a graveyard, and that the mediaeval church stood to its west.

However, judging by old pictures, it would seem that the church occupied the whole length of the north edge of the area, so, presumably, the graveyard was only on the church’s south side.

I also notice that the toll house was hard up against the church’s west wall and did seem to be exactly where the present fountain was built.

During the late 18th century a lot of work was carried out in and around Oxford to improve traffic flow, such as the removal of the North Gate, and the fountain on Carfax and the building of the covered market to get traders off the streets.

It was also about this time that turnpikes were built to improve the routes to London. One was a new road to London through High Wycombe, which went from The Plain to Wheatley Bridge to bypass Shotover.

Another new road to London, on the Henley route, started at The Plain and went to Iffley.

Presumably, the new Iffley Road put St Clement’s Church on an island and restricted its expansion, which is why it was demolished in 1828 and replaced with a new church in Marston Road.

At what date these two roads were turned into turnpikes I don’t know, but at least part of the road to Wycombe became a turnpike in 1775, only three years after Magdalen Bridge was built. This seems to suggest that it was all part of one plan. The turnpike gates stayed on The Plain until 1867.

The suggestion that water be reconnected to the fountain, struck me as being rather impractical, since there are unlikely to be any horses to use the troughs. And if people tried to use the drinking fountain they would be in danger of being killed, as I found out when, some years ago, I tried to get on to the island to obtain details to prepare a painting.

I used the information that I gathered on that day to do a watercolour which will be used as a Christmas card for Sobell House Hospice this year, so if you like to give to this charity, keep a look out for the cards later in the year.

DERRICK HOLT, Headington, Oxford