Chiltern Wells #6 - Stoke Row Traditional Cache
Professor Xavier: As the owner has not responded to my previous log requesting that they check this cache I am archiving it. Please note that as this cache has now been archived by a reviewer or HQ staff it will NOT be unarchived.
Regards
Ed
Professor Xavier - Volunteer UK Reviewer
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Chiltern Wells #6 - Stoke Row
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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This cache is part of a series of seven caches placed at or near wells in the Chilterns. On the logs (of six of the seven caches), you will find a number - eg A=1, B=2 - which you can use to get the co-ordinates of a bonus cache.
Most of the caches can be done as drive-bys, though at Stoke Row there are signs requesting that visitors to the well park behind the village hall.
If you want to do the series as a circuit, you may want to do them in roughly numerical order - starting at Binfield Heath, then Rotherfield Peppard, Gallowstree Common, Kidmore End, Ipsden, Stoke Row, Highmoor and then the bonus.
Maharajah's Well
Maharajah's Well in Stoke Row is certainly the best known well in the area and its history is well documented.
The story starts with Edward Anderdon Reade (1807-1886) who was the son of the local landowner in Ipsden.
Reade worked as a civil servant in India for 34 years, eventually becoming Lieutenant Governor of the North Western Provinces. In 1831 he funded the sinking of a well (and an adjoining mango grove) for the community of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.
When he retired in 1860 and returned to Ipsden, he asked his friend His Highness Ishree Pershad Narayan Singh, the Maharajah of Benares, to ensure that the well at Azamgarh would be maintained.
Reade had told the Maharajah about the terrible water shortages and deprivation suffered by villagers in this corner of South Oxfordshire, and a few years later, in 1863, as a mark of his friendship with Reade - and also possibly to show his loyalty to the British in the aftermath of the Indian Mutiny of 1857 - he commissioned this well at Stoke Row.
Work was started on 10th March 1863 and the well was officially opened on 24th May 1864, Queen Victoria's birthday.
The well shaft is a massive 368 feet deep - more than twice the height of Nelson's Column - and is just 4 feet wide. It took ten minutes to raise a bucket of water to the surface. The oriental-looking superstructure is a listed building. It must have looked very exotic to the villagers at the time!
The path to the well was planted with an avenue of yew trees. Four of the original ones were there until recently, but more have been planted in the last few years.
Next to the well, a pretty hexagonal brick cottage was built, as accommodation for the Well Warden.
On the other side of the footpath is a small nature reserve called the Ishree Bagh. This was originally a 4-acre cherry orchard. The Maharajah paid for 101 cherry trees to be planted there in order to provide an income to pay for the upkeep of the well.
The well continued to be used until about 1939. It (and also the Warden's Cottage) were restored between 1979 and 1983. Interestingly, the very popular annual Stoke Row Steam Rally started in 1980 to help raise funds for the restoration of the well.
A very interesting leaflet about the history of the well has been produced and there are sometimes copies available from a box close to the well. You can put your donations in a nearby post with a coin slot!
We woul d have liked our cache here to be a good sized container, but have opted instead for a micro in order for it to be close to the well. Please remove the log sheet leaving the cache in place - and tuck it away afterwards so it's not too visible.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Zvqqyr lrj, nobhg rvtugrra vapurf hc
Treasures
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