well, well, well.

[jess marley]

While having a chat with the nice ladies in the local museum this morning, it came to light that there used to be a well inside my house somewhere. -a friend of hers nearly bought the house for this very reason. I have a feeling that it may be under the downstairs bathroom floor, (now a concrete screed whose time has come) ...does any-one have any similar? What should I look for as I excavate?

 

[Geoffrey]

Hi Jess

I have a well in the middle of my kitchen floor. I can't help with what you should look for as mine has never been covered - however if you have a room that obviously was once outside that would be the place to start looking. My kitchen is in a lean-to extension made in the early 19th century. It would have been a courtyard or part of the farmyard before that. Best of luck finding it - ours has a very thick (bullet-proof) glass cover and we can light it up when we want to. It's always a talking point as not too many people have them indoors, although I have heard of a few others.

Geoff

 

[jess marley]

Geoff, thanks, is there any water at the bottom?

 

[Geoffrey]

Yes - level rises and falls with the water table. To be honest I've never been down there but I gather the previous owners party trick was to roll up his trouser legs and go for a paddle.

 

[Carol]

Our neighbour has one of those glass covers over her kitchen well too! Definitely a talking point at parties, but I would feel a bit queasy standing on one every day. Hers has a few ferns too.

 

[Penners]

What should I look for as I excavate?

A hole. :wink:

Seriously, have you tried doing a bit of floor thumping? If there is a well, and the top of it is fairly near the surface of the floor, you should get a hollow sound at that location if you tap around the floor.

Or try dowsing with a couple of bits of bent wire. I was a real sceptic about this until I tried it myself recently, with spectacular success!

Only problem is that, in a bathroom, there are rather a lot of water sources. But give it a try.

 

[petillant]

I think the glass-covered wells with some nice lighting can really turn kitchens, etc, into a nice showpiece .( dependent on where the well is! )

Materials have come a long way recently as well, so safety is never compromised either. Good luck on finding the source!

 

[jess marley]

Thanks all, my only worry is what a future surveyor may make of it should I find anything...

 

[jess marley]

Actually there was something else, if I remove the concrete screed (relatively sound) from some of these downstairs rooms and find that I'm down to mud...can I just lay the slate floor on a bed of limey sandy stuff? and if so, assuming it's done well, will Iever be able to sell the house without all the !*$&*! guarantees that everyone wants these days?

 

[Geoffrey]

Our survey only mentioned making sure the glass was strong enough. Duh... no doubt with a clause stating it had not been tested just in case somebody should disappear through it and sue the surveyors for not having pointed this out!

 

[Johneds]

Geoffrey, is it deep enough to imprison somebody in? Maybe a conservation officer or a politician or two. Or perhaps one or two PPUK members.

 

[Johneds]

I forgot to mention, that surveyor must have been away on the day we did testing of glass covers to wells. What you do is stand in the middle (i.e. at the weakest spot) and jump up and down as hard as you can. So far I have this test to be very succesful.

 

[Nemesis]

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.9181

 

[Nemesis]

Too late to respond now but...

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/server/show/nav.9284

 

[jess marley]

I must be missing something- why the questionnaire?

 

[Nemesis]

It was for Johneds. It is connected with the EH consultation on conservation (now closed) to point out that policies on conservation principles are under review, and only arrived at after national consultation.

See also thread re 'Who do we need to convert'...