IT was very pleasing to read in the Journal (December 10) that the new owner of the house at the corner of Trinity Street and Brown Street has advertised a competition to design a sign to commemorate the existence of the Chequer which their house is part of.

A great deal of work went into the fight to get the developers of the old Register Office Chequer to call it Vanner’s Chequer. The fight was lost for all sorts of administrative reasons but Wiltshire Council provided two beautiful blue plaques that give a brief history and mark where the Chequer is.

Salisbury’s street plan was laid down in the early 13th Century, which resulted in the formation of chequer squares and is a fine example of Medieval town planning.

Each chequer acquired its own unique name and their central areas contained the gardens of the homes and businesses which occupied the tenements which faced the streets.

Subsequent development has resulted in the garden areas of all but one of the Chequers being filled by buildings, or used as car parks.

We now have a new development in the Black Horse Chequer in Brown Street which appears to be called Holt Court which is such a shame as the opportunity to keep as many as possible of these ancient names is being missed. Perhaps the developer would like to name his building Holt Court, Black Horse Chequer, Brown Street.

Could the council be more pro-active in the preservation of these historic names?

MARY STEPHENS Salisbury