High speed switched reluctance motors (SRMs) have recently been gaining attention as contenders in many variable speed drive applications. This has also been stimulated by recent advances in power electronic technology which enables this drive system for many applications such as high speed water pump and space and military applications. This paper presents the design and control of high speed four phases SRM suitable for high speed water pumping and other high speed variable load applications. The dynamic load characteristic and the SRM operation modes have been studied and a novel cascade control strategy is designed and implemented using the MathLap Simulink. The SRM drive system is tested and encouraging results were obtained. The results are of prime importance in the developments of rural and remote areas and also for space and military applications