Offley Well Head

Offley Well Head is a fountain head, basin, platform, and wrought iron gates built in 1850, as indicated by a partly illegible inscription panel on the east side. It is constructed from yellow and grey limestone ashlar and is designed in a Jacobean style, possibly inspired by late-antique funerary monuments from the Middle East.

The fountain head is octagonal in shape and sits on a plinth, featuring lead spouts (two of which are now missing) and carved shell-like basins on the north, south, and east sides. A higher door on the west side provides access to the interior. Each of the eight sides has panels with strapwork motifs, and there is a moulded cornice with an ornamental crested parapet above. At the top, a square panelled head features broken segmental pediments and a sundial on the north-east side.

The fountain is set in a tile-floored basin with red brick walls and stone capping, which has moulded triangular projections. This basin is raised on a platform that has an open strapwork balustrade on three sides and a higher quadrant sandstone wall at the rear (west). Access to the platform is via short flights of steps on the north and south sides, which have slate benches on either side, and wrought iron gates at the bottom.

The fountain was erected by Annabel Hungerford in memory of her aunt in 1850, coinciding with the creation of the surrounding allotments, which were given to the poor of the parish. The structure is currently overgrown and in poor condition due to neglect noted during a re-survey in 1984.