St. Margaret's Church, Roath, Drinking Fountain

This drinking fountain was donated to the City in December 1910 by the Samuel family in memory of Mrs Fanny Samuel who died in 1886. It was located on an island at the junction of Waterloo Road, Albany Road and Marlborough Road, opposite St. Margaret's Church in an area then known as Deanfield. In the presence of members of the Samuel family and the Parks Committee, Mr Isaac Samuel presented the fountain on December 22nd 1910. The Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman C.H.Bird, accepted it on behalf of the City.[1]

Drinking fountain, Margarets Church, Roath, Cardiff

Presentation at St Margaret's Church, 22nd December 1910[2]

The photograph above was printed in the Western Mail on December 24th 1910 with the caption: "A new fountain erected at Deanfield, Roath, Cardiff, and presented to the city by the children of the late Mrs. Fanny Samuel, was formally handed over to the citizens on Thursday afternoon."[3]

Ordnance Survey maps show that this drinking fountain remained in place until the 1950s. In March 1957 the Western Mail reported that the "disused ornamental fountain at the junction of Albany Road and Waterloo Road" was to go.[4]

Sources of Information

  1. Meeting of the Parks, Open Spaces and Burial Board Committee 22nd December 1910
  2. Photograph from the Cardiff Library Local Studies Collection
  3. Western Mail Saturday December 24 1910 page 8
  4. Western Mail Thursday March 14 1957 page 5