Hidden Henley

In our Henley area we have plenty of curious old wells including the Maharajahs, Rebecca’s, St Anne’s, Keeps, Highmoor and Sedgehill Spring; but few have a story like the one in my picture at nearby Fawley. It is located in a high position in the Chilterns where villagers in the past had difficulty sourcing fresh water. Many used rainwater collected from their roofs. I had a much-loved aunt who had neither electricity, mains drainage or water in her cottage at Rockwell End and she used rain water. I remember the slightly different taste of drinks that she made me when I was a boy!

This well seems to have been dug around the year 1900. Set in fine countryside, it is still a picturesque spot to incorporate in a walk or cycle ride.

The best selling author Cecil Roberts lived close to here in Assendon from the 1930’s until the 1950’s and some of his books such as Gone Rambling and Gone Rustic feature the Henley area and it’s history in considerable detail. Roberts wrote that when this well was dug some 350 feet down there was an incident where the local squire’s daughter descended the well shaft with some friends – purely for adventure and mischief – to where men were working at the bottom of the construction. The story goes that the men refused to wind her and her friends back to the surface unless she agreed to buy the workers a round of beer. This she evidently agreed to, and the party found their way back into daylight! Does anyone know more about this story, since I have been unable to find out?