Maharajah'S Well

SU68SE 6/149

STOKE ROW Maharajah's Well

(Formerly listed as under Ipsden C.P)

14/05/73

GV II

Well. Dated 1864 on shields to frieze. By Edward Anderdon Reade. Red brick base; painted cast-iron columns and painted metal superstructure. Circular base with columns forming an octagon. Indian style. 8 columns are linked by spear-head railings. The columns have stylised leaf capitals and a pierced frieze with shields to the centre. Above is an onion dome with a chujja to the base, above which a painted inscription reads "Given by his Highness The Maharajah of Benares 1864". Gilded spear finial to the apex of the done. The well machinery provided by R.J. and H. Wilder of Wallingford, Berkshire has a gilded cast-iron elephant to the top. E.A. Reade had worked for the Maharajah of Benares in India and inspired him to give a well to Stoke Row by his tales of the difficulty the residents had in obtaining water. Work was started on 10th March 1863 (the wedding day of Edward, Prince of Wales) and the well was opened on 24th May 1864 (Queen Victoria's Birthday). The well shaft is approx. 120m. deep. The well and superstructure cost 353 13s 7d., the machinery and elephant cost a further 39 10s 0d. The well was the first known established Charity in Great Britain of an Indian nobleman. (An Illustrated History of The Maharajah's Well, Stoke Row, Henley, Oxfordshire, by Laureen D. Williamson, 1983).

Listing NGR: SU6795884077