Is this stone structure a well?

[AnnieF]

Hey gang. FINALLY got out to do some hunting!!!!!

Found this in the woods here in Marshfield. Lots of stone walls threading around the area. Must have been agricultural land 100+ years ago. I don't see the remnants of a house anywhere, but I didn't get to really look-look...

So is this a well?

Isn't it pretty out there? I love the woods.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Minelab PRO-FIND 35 Waterproof Pinpointer Metal Detector for Experts with Tone ID & Adjustable Sensitivity - Grab it through Amazon!

[westwing357]

Annie: I don't think so. It looks like a place to make a fire to cook on or maybe a forge for metal forging. All the old wells I found have been well defined, as a laid up stone brick walls. And most do not have anything/structure above ground left. As for remnants of houses, I look for just a depression in the ground (the size of a old home ), most will be small one or two rooms max. I say 10' X 10' in size, they took most of the wood with them so usually all that's left is a couple stones outlying the walls or just a depression(1' to 2' deep). Most of the old home sites I search have only a depression or just a few stones defining the outside walls. Hope this helps you. Jack

 

[AnnieF]

It does! Enormously. THANK YOU. In fact, this site is walking distance to one of the biggest shipyards in the country about 120 years ago so a metal works would make perfect sense... and make my hunting HELL! *sigh*

 

[steelheadwill]

Hi Annie, Agree with westwing, generally wells at abandoned homesites show no above ground structure.
Up here they are quite common and very dangerous to the unwary.
shown below is one less than 15 feet from a state road and across from a shopping plaza.
another, and the most dangerous I know of is in the middle of a spring runoff stream,
very hard to see, but at least it would be fairly easy to climb from if you fell in.
Think about constructing one with hand tools...
I imagine you'd dig a conical hole down to the water table, then build the stone walls
and refill the hole as the stones were placed.
To get down 30 feet, I'd guess the diameter of the hole at the surface would have to be at least 20 feet.
Wrong. I just did some scale drawings, looks to me that to get 30' down, even a 30' surface hole
looks prone to cave-in, truth be told, I wouldn't want to be at the bottom even with a 40' surface hole.
The Colonials had no easy task earning their land grant by clearing land and building a homestead....
That is a lot of dirt to move. then re-move. and a well was just the beginning.
Think about clearing old growth forest in order to start crops, you have some hand tools and hopefully an ox.
I'm tired and hurting after a day of work and detecting, these tasks seem Herculean....
Best wishes and HH

 

[Red James Cash]

Careful walking through tall grass.Some wells are just a hole in the ground no longer surrounded by stone.A death trap waiting to happen if youre alone and find it the hard way.I came across one once,about 20 feet down.Still had water,no idea though how deep.

 

[holeDiver]

Yes that is a well I have those same ones here when I come across one I try to fill it in with something noticeable like long sticks something so others won't. Fall victim of it be careful out there an do not forget to look up every now an then. Have fun

Sent from my LGMS769 using Tapatalk