70 foot well under our kitchen floor
14 January 2012, 06:32 PM
#1
70 foot well under our kitchen floor
Its in my parents farm house which is over 200 years old and was used during the war. We all think it's a feat of engineering. There used to be a pump and it still has the led pipe.
It's the first time I've personally seen down it because my parents are redoing the kitchen and the well is going to be incorperated into the design with a glass lid and a string of lights of some sort going down, etc.
The picture DOES NOT do it justice at all unless you see it in person. I wish I could take a decent picture to truely get an idea of the depth and scaryness
UPDATE 08/06/2012
The extension has all been done and kitchen finally fitted; just waiting on the floor, kitchen work top, and glass well lid which should be done next week
The lights were fully installed this morning and I think they look fantastic. Once again, iphone pictures do not do it justice!
If you compare to the first pictures, notice that the thick lead pipe and wooden sleepers have all been removed. This involved a crazy man going down there with an angle grinder and a chainsaw!!
UPDATE 16/06/2012
Flooring will be finished next week where it will be flush with the glass, etc. More pictures to come of the final result and in daylight, but here is as it stands now that the glass lid has been fitted.
The lights have a life-time of 50,000 hours so they should last my Dads life and my life before they need replacing! (we are not leaving them on 24/7)
UPDATE 28/06/2012
As promised....
(please excuse the messy kitchen, we're almost there and just a few things to finish off)
It's the first time I've personally seen down it because my parents are redoing the kitchen and the well is going to be incorperated into the design with a glass lid and a string of lights of some sort going down, etc.
The picture DOES NOT do it justice at all unless you see it in person. I wish I could take a decent picture to truely get an idea of the depth and scaryness
UPDATE 08/06/2012
The extension has all been done and kitchen finally fitted; just waiting on the floor, kitchen work top, and glass well lid which should be done next week
The lights were fully installed this morning and I think they look fantastic. Once again, iphone pictures do not do it justice!
If you compare to the first pictures, notice that the thick lead pipe and wooden sleepers have all been removed. This involved a crazy man going down there with an angle grinder and a chainsaw!!
UPDATE 16/06/2012
Flooring will be finished next week where it will be flush with the glass, etc. More pictures to come of the final result and in daylight, but here is as it stands now that the glass lid has been fitted.
The lights have a life-time of 50,000 hours so they should last my Dads life and my life before they need replacing! (we are not leaving them on 24/7)
UPDATE 28/06/2012
As promised....
(please excuse the messy kitchen, we're almost there and just a few things to finish off)
Last edited by LSherratt; 28 June 2012 at 10:24 PM.
14 January 2012, 06:41 PM
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14 January 2012, 06:48 PM
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WOW!!! 
This is amazing, LSherratt!
Do your parents get water out of it, to use for cooking and washing etc.? I had a well in my old house's backyard, once. It was a farm house on a hill with the sheep all over. I don't live in that house any more, but the presence of a well within the house compound was quite intriguing. I never had guts to pull the water out of that well. Just moving the wooden plank aside to look down the well used to freak me out. My legs used to feel like jelly, it was that scary!
This is amazing, LSherratt!
Do your parents get water out of it, to use for cooking and washing etc.? I had a well in my old house's backyard, once. It was a farm house on a hill with the sheep all over. I don't live in that house any more, but the presence of a well within the house compound was quite intriguing. I never had guts to pull the water out of that well. Just moving the wooden plank aside to look down the well used to freak me out. My legs used to feel like jelly, it was that scary!
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14 January 2012, 06:57 PM
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That's
My house is on an old farm as is some of my street. The back garden has a well underneath it as its on the land registry when I bought it 7 years ago. Pig farm I think as we've found bones and old slate/ceramic from the buildings. Quite fascinating really.
My house is on an old farm as is some of my street. The back garden has a well underneath it as its on the land registry when I bought it 7 years ago. Pig farm I think as we've found bones and old slate/ceramic from the buildings. Quite fascinating really.
14 January 2012, 07:20 PM
#10
My Grandad used to use it when it had the pump. There was also a tank in the back-kitchen and he had to pump it every morning to fill the tank which they then used for cooking, washing, etc.
I can't believe that people managed to dig it 70 foot down all those years ago. You can't really see in the picture but the brick work and construction is fanscinating as well.
I put the picture on my facebook and one of my mates said the exact same thing
Last edited by LSherratt; 14 January 2012 at 07:30 PM.
14 January 2012, 07:53 PM
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14 January 2012, 08:05 PM
#14
I spend some of my spare time under ground in old mines (mainly Lead mines of the peak district) and the engineering is staggering. It always amazes me what just man power and few hand tools can do…especially since some of the mines date back to 18th century…or even older in some cases.
14 January 2012, 08:46 PM
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My old local bar in Fort William the Maryburgh inn has a well in the middle of it like that they put a skelleton down it and lights and a glass top its well smart pardon the pun lol
14 January 2012, 09:29 PM
#18
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I was working in a house a few weeks ago and they had something similar in their dining room, wasn't 70' but was deep enough that you wouldn't want to fall down it. I couldn't get used to working over the glass cover and kept walking round it.
15 January 2012, 12:37 AM
#21
Yes I will do. The kitchen will be done sometime this year but it's gonna take several months because we're designing and knocking down walls and having the kitchen tailor made which will take a long time, but I shall try to keep this updated.
We are going to have an island unit with the well incorperated into the island design which will make it truely unique and never done before, with the unit curved around the well with a glass lid curved into the island and on the other side will be a curved breakfast bar type area. It's very early ideas but we're defiently making it a feature and I can't wait to see how it will all look.
The only trouble is, is that we need to find some sort of electrician/mountain rockclimber to help us with lighting, eg, have lighting fixed down the well walls, or custom made lights on some sort of string.
We are going to have an island unit with the well incorperated into the island design which will make it truely unique and never done before, with the unit curved around the well with a glass lid curved into the island and on the other side will be a curved breakfast bar type area. It's very early ideas but we're defiently making it a feature and I can't wait to see how it will all look.
The only trouble is, is that we need to find some sort of electrician/mountain rockclimber to help us with lighting, eg, have lighting fixed down the well walls, or custom made lights on some sort of string.
Last edited by LSherratt; 15 January 2012 at 12:48 AM.
15 January 2012, 12:55 AM
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Yes I will do. The kitchen will be done sometime this year but it's gonna take several months because we're designing and knocking down walls and having the kitchen tailor made which will take a long time, but I shall try to keep this updated.
We are going to have an island unit with the well incorperated into the island design which will make it truely unique and never done before, with the unit curved around the well with a glass lid curved into the island and on the other side will be a curved breakfast bar type area. It's very early ideas but we're defiently making it a feature and I can't wait to see how it will all look.
The only trouble is, is that we need to find some sort of electrician/mountain rockclimber to help us with lighting, eg, have lighting fixed down the well walls, or custom made lights on some sort of string.
We are going to have an island unit with the well incorperated into the island design which will make it truely unique and never done before, with the unit curved around the well with a glass lid curved into the island and on the other side will be a curved breakfast bar type area. It's very early ideas but we're defiently making it a feature and I can't wait to see how it will all look.
The only trouble is, is that we need to find some sort of electrician/mountain rockclimber to help us with lighting, eg, have lighting fixed down the well walls, or custom made lights on some sort of string.
15 January 2012, 03:38 AM
#24
When I worked on the Gatwick runway extension in the 70's , we discovered a well directly under the new works. It was associated with the old race course that existed years before.
The well was left in place and filled with mass concrete before completing the new works.
The well was left in place and filled with mass concrete before completing the new works.
15 January 2012, 07:25 AM
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I'd remove the pictures and any reference to lead unless you want the pikeys to break in and steal your pipes
Really, very nice, im like John and like quirky things like this
Tony
Really, very nice, im like John and like quirky things like this
Tony
15 January 2012, 10:17 AM
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Hey look on the bright side! You are onto a good start with this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16559999
15 January 2012, 11:10 AM
#28
Or a caver, I've got all the ropes, harness etc for verticle access. Most mines have verticle entrance shafts, upto to 50meters deep. However I have Zero electrical qualifications so I'm no real help but there will be people out there with the right kit and quailifactions.
15 January 2012, 11:18 AM
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You'll need to get it filled and properly capped, you don't know what's been leaking into that over the years - may cost you a bit to get it sealed properly.
15 January 2012, 11:30 AM
#30
Wife's grandparents had the same but in what was their hall. They had lights put down it and topped with glass. It had been in some time and was certainly a centre piece/talking point. However some of the bulbs had gone after a while and they were a nightmare to replace.
So after a while it just looked dark and damp. Some of the light was missing and you couldn't see the bottom - it looked like a bottomless hole!
So after a while it just looked dark and damp. Some of the light was missing and you couldn't see the bottom - it looked like a bottomless hole!