Not What You Expect to See...
Last weekend I was out on a walk in Oxfordshire near Henley-on-Thames and came across something I never expected to see in the English countryside. This. I suppose I should have learned by now to expect the unexpected - Britain is eccentric in so many ways and so to find an Indian-style obelisk in a small village is not that surprising. This is The Maharajah's Well in the village of Stoke Row. It was a gift to the people of Stoke Row from the Maharajah of Benares, a friend of a prominent local landowner, Mr Edward Anderdon Reade. Mr Reade was Governor of the Northwest Provinces of India and during his time there presented a well to the people of India. As there was an absence of available water in the Stoke Row area, the Maharajah generously reciprocated the gesture to demonstrate his feelings for England and as a token of friendship with Mr Reade. Work on the well commenced in 1863 and it was officially opened just over a year later. It is 368 feet deep (taller than St Paul's...