Is this a cistern or flooded cellar hole?

[JakePhelps]

I was told this thing i found in my woods could be a cistern for the town or something...At first i thought a flooded cellar hole, but then i noticed that even when it was really dry there was water in it still ? So im thiking a cistern, isnt that when they built a small pool-like thingy around a natural spring?? An help would be a huge help to finding out the history of my woods ? I think im getting closer, putting together the clues can be hard after 200 years of change to the landscape and such.? I think the huge rock wall i found out there was from the cemetary across the street which was founded in 1852, so the rocks must have been dumped by the cemetary back then when digging plots out.

 

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[gldhntr]

ever what it turns out to be i would definantly drag a large magnet through it considering the other items you have been finding there...................gldhntr

 

[DigEmAll]

Hey Jake, don't you have a Cobra? See how deep it is and hop in! I would think that that is a spring/well. Most cisterns that I know about (I may be wrong here) are built under the house and collect rain water from the roof. Keeps all the leaves and animals out. If that hole is too deep to hop into, I agree that you should take a large magnet to it... you know how kids are about tossing things into the water!

 

[JakePhelps]

Its only 2 or 3 feet deep but its the grossest water you will ever see. but a magnet would be ok

 

[Treasure Seeker]

If I was a kid.. I would have tossed my pennies into it..

 

[hollowpointred]

could be a cistern or the remnants of an old spring house. cisterns can have all kinds of things in them.old things tend to collect it them! does it have a hard or soft bottom? i would try detecting it by spreading some boards across it for you to get on and scan it so only your coil and stem get wet. if it has a soft bottom you can use a long handled scoop to remove whatever you find.

 

[Vrent]

at only a few feet deep. test the bottom it may be a lot deeper and just filled in with soft gooky stuff. A decent pair of waders would help you with the grossiest water you have ever seen part. or get a post hole digger and dredge it out. that mehtod may break any mottles in it though. I would get some waders and have no fear of going in, providing that the bottom is firm. are there any other structures near by? it may be built around an old spring, I know of one in eastern mass that is, it feeds a rather large pond, ut it is a good 15 feet or so deep. I have always thought of getting back there and going in. that one is lined with brick and agood deal has fallen in.

luck to ye
Vrent

 

[DigEmAll]

If it is only a few feet deep, let the stem all the way out on the Cobra and shoot it from the edges. That is the intended use of my Cobra... to shoot the holes that fill up with water in the washes around here. Have been having good luck with that too! You can get a hoe and take it by a fabrication or machine shop and have them weld a piece of plate steel about 10" X 16" on the bottom of it. That works really well for pulling up the muck on the bottom.

 

[JakePhelps]

Thats a great idea! ill have to go out there with a probe and detector to check out that thing. I think ill go to the library/townhall and research this area even more, seems theres more history here than i thought

 

[greenswinger]

An area i once had access to hunt on had several cisterns in woods . Small opening on surface..about 3 feet , then they open up to about 15 ft wide , 10 ft deep . lots of old brick foundations , one small brick building about 10 by 10 . no windows just door , Has brick roof !!! I was told there was plantation here that was burned by federal troops in civil war . Would like to get permission to m. d. but probaly impossible . Owner of land when I hunted here was not aware of any of this on prop . Had never seen any of it !!!!!!!

 

[dano91]

OK a cistern is used to collect water from a fresh water stream, or a well and hold or contain it.
You might be looking at an early septic system, which contains waste water and solid waste, and separates it.
My best guess would be to test it first LOL
Dano

 

[JakePhelps]

In the second pic if you look behind it there is a small stream running to it, maybe the cistern made the stream because there is a spring in it?

 

[hollowpointred]

hey jake,just for the hell of it,why not detect around the outside of the cistern to see if there are any square nails around that would tell you if there was once a building (spring house)there.if there was, ill bet there were more buildings in the area.

 

[JakePhelps]

Good idea, i forgot to switch it to all metal mode to see that, i detected on lewest disc mode and found nothing around it. I think ill go back here soon, like today or tomorow.

 

[JakePhelps]

UPDATES:

Went to it today to get some measurment and detect round it some more, glad i did

It measures around 4 yards long by 2? yards wide. Its 11" deep on one side and 15" deep on another, i think there is just ground under all the murky water but there could be stone or something under all the muck.

The best part: I was detecting along it and found a wooden thing that looks like a primitive filter which could mean it was once a cistern or something of the sort, i will post pics after i am done preserving it.

 

[Monty]

Jake, someone else nailed it.. A cistern is used to collect rainwater. There are dozens of them around the southwest. If it were around here it would be an old storn cellar. Once abandoned, they nearly always fell up with water. Whatever it is, it has been partially filled up with dirt and ? Hope you find some good stuff inside! If it has a stream leading out of it, you might have to enlarge the opening and drain it to find out just what is inside. JIM

 

[JakePhelps]

I had thought about digging a channel out and draining it but then i would have to take down all the rocks on one side of the walls, is there an easier way to do it without diggin?

 

[gldhntr]

if it is close to a downhill area you could siphon it out by putting a hose in the hole, let it fill completely with water, put your thumb over one end and do not take thumb off till you have that end of the hose down hill below the level of water in the hole......a hand operated fuel pump will move many gallons in a few minutes,,,or one of the cheap battery operated kerosene pumps...................gldhntr

 

[DigEmAll]

Jake, I don't think that taking the wall down to try to drain it is a good idea. The pump idea sounds best and the syphon idea isn't bad either if it can keep up with the flow coming in. If it is a spring house, I think you will be spinning your wheels either way you go because you will NEVER get it dry. Your best bet I believe is to just get a pair of hip waders from somebody that fly fishes and hunt it out. Then, if you hit the mother lode, you can worry about draining it. If it is the black water that concerns you, just get all the dead leaves out of it and it will clear up in a few days.

 

[relicmanNY]

check around the area an see what you find in the ground. that will tll you what it may have been. maybe just a small shed foundation.