St Chad’s Well Memorial Garden – a brief history
The memorial garden was once part of the Norton House Estate, created by Mrs Savage in 1866, in memory of her son. A place where local people to come and draw water from the spring.
Arthur Waugh, father of Evelyn Waugh tells in his book how, the distraught Mrs Savage visited the memorial daily. “Here, in the evenings, the pathetic, wizened Mrs Savage was conducted in her wheel chair, attended by her faithful henchman, Jonah Shearn. The path to the well was set with shrubs, and if any weed had grown between their stems, the wheel chair was stopped before the offending vegetable, and Jonah, trowel in hand, dug it up and cast it in the stream that babbled by. Then she paused and read the inscription with a far-away look in her eyes. It was her tribute to an only child”.
After her death, it seems to have become neglected. Norton House was demolished and after many years the well and gardens became part of Somervale School.
The Monument
The actual memorial monument, which dominates this small community space, is dedicated to Mrs Savage’s son, Major Frederick Stukeley Savage. He died on 31st March 1866 having served throughout the Crimean War. He had written to his mother about the lack of clean drinking water for soldiers during the war and the inscription on the middle plinth reflects this:
THIS MEMORIAL
IS ERECTED BY HIS MOTHER,
WHO IN ACCORDANCE WITH HIS WISH
HAS ENDEAVOURED TO IMPROVE THE SPRING
FOR THE BENEFIT OF THE POOR
OF THIS PARISH.
The monument comprises an obelisk (made from fine grained sandstone) on a three stage plinth which originally had a stepped base although this was later rendered with a sand and cement mortar and many of the Chilcomption rough stones were removed by vandals. A stone cross was originally mounted over the well under the monument but has also disappeared, possibly having fallen into the basin below.