2-667-767 - Historic England Archive/Heritage Images

St Giles' Fair, Oxford, Oxfordshire, September 1905. Silver gelatin glass plate negative. Despite the bustle of St Giles' Fair, the photographer has inevitably attracted attention perched, presumably on a stepladder, above the fairgoers. Employees of the ornately decorated Taylor's Royal Electric Coliseum are drumming up business, and a Fried Fish and Chip Potato wagon stands beside the gas lamp. St Giles' Fair had evolved from a parish wake first mentioned in 1624 into a major amusement fair with special trains bringing visitors from far afield. Taunt photographed the fair from the late 1860s, hoping of course to sell many images, and also out of personal interest.