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A RESIDENT has appealed to a parish council to expedite repairs on a heritage-listed wooden well which has been in an “unsafe” condition for 20 months.

Caroline McAslan, 76, of Tokers Green Lane, spoke at a meeting of the Kidmore End Parish Council where she called the delay “reprehensible”.

The well is outside the entrance to St. John the Baptist’s Church, in the middle of the junction of Wood Lane and Tokers Green Lane, where it is believed to have stood since the late 19th century.

It was registered by Historic England in 1985 as a Grade II listed structure and is constructed with a timber framing and a wood pyramidal shingle roof.

Mrs McAslan said the well has been decorated as a part of village celebrations on occasions like Easter and Christmas.

However, it is now covered with orange mesh fencing after a wood expert contacted the parish council in December 2023 with concerns it was unsafe .

The council was told the structure of the wooden well has severely decayed. Mrs McAslan said: “It’s a really important site, everybody that goes by takes photographs, cyclists stop in front of it, we really love it and we would love to be able to use it.”

Parish council chair Caroline Aldridge said they were waiting for a permit for fencing from Oxfordshire County Council.

Then issue will be discussed at the annual parish meeting on May 21, which will start at 7pm at the Gallowstree Common Recreation Ground.