Found a well - age?

[itzyoboyandrew]

Was out probing the other day, hit something solid - was a brick. Underneath that was another brick, and beside that were bricks. Probed the whole area and it was totally solid. Start digging it, and turns out its an old brick lined well. Im guessing well over privy, as all other privies/trash pits ive found in this area had no lining and were jammed pack with iron/glass/bottles. Defiantly one of the cooler things I have discovered over the years. Espically as this is in my backyard. Im not sure of the age but based by my research im guessing 19th century. If anyone has info on brick wells, would be appreciated. Worth noting there is no mortar between the bricks. Ill get a better picture of the bricks soon, but they are an older type i believe.

Im about a foot and a half down and have hit this thick layer of broken bricks. My guess is the well once went above ground, but when it was filled in - they bashed off the top into the well to help fill it in.
Worth notiing the well is made of bricks that have been broken in half, to make a square shape, guessing so they could make a bigger circle. Also does anyone have any clue how deep this could be? Im in a low lying area so im hoping not to deep.

Progress pics (im still digging it)

 

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[kenstein]

Maybe a cistern for storing rainwater. Google brick-lined cistern. Here is an interesting read...https://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/29/science/cisterns-prove-to-be-treasure-troves.html

 

[islamoradamark]

What a find. i've heard old stories where people threw valuables in a well before being attacked by the enemy .

 

[A2coins]

well done lol

 

[Professor of Engineering]

Good Luck on the search for treasure!

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

I have no idea how I am going to go about digging this. Recieved info from a local couple that has lived here there entire life (70+years) and they said the wells around here are around 15 feet deep, and they have yet to see one that was brick lined, so this one might be a bit deeper.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Slowly but surely... Im mostly hand digging at this point due to the amount of bricks in the well, kinda hard to dig through.

 

[flashyace]

Any update?

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Any update?

Got down a bit further, ill take pics later on after i drain the water out.

Side note, the bricks are "savannah greys" (i live near savannah) and they date from the early 1800s and werent produced anymore by the start of the civil war. So the well probably dates, based on the pottery/bricks to mid 19th century. Cant wait till i get deeper!

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Drained the well and as soon as it finished, it started to pour down rain....
I need to deepen the ledge as my arms cant reach any farther down.
Current depth according to the tape measure 3 feet down from top brick to deepest section.

 

[islamoradamark]

looks like ur off to a good start you might get dirty on this one you said low land sometimes it might be drier if the tide was low

 

[Possum]

well done lol

I'm sure there was no pun intended there, huh A2C?

 

[tumbleweed35]

This post has inspired me to dig out an old well on my place, mine is not brick, just rock lined. But here people were poor and bricks cost money and rocks were plentiful and free. An 80year old neighbor who has lived here all his life can't ever recall a house by the well or even why the well was there so maybe mine is old also and who knows what I might find at the bottom

 

[kenstein]

Proceed with caution if you get in there. Tie yourself off to something. I've never dug one out, so not speaking from experience, but no guarantee that the solid stuff isn't suspended on something. A cistern on my property was level full of trash when I bought the place. It sat covered with a concrete slab for years. I got curious and opened it up to discover that I now have a sixteen foot deep brick-lined shaft with a little trash at the bottom.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Found a rather long knife. Unfortunately this is all I have found of it. I dont have it pictured, but from the iron pieces that are visible from the middle, the end pieces are definitely part of a single edged knife.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Looked at some pictures, appears to possible be a 19th century single edgec dagger, as the long narrow blade appears to be more typical of daggers.

 

[Rich jaws]

Old cesspool?

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Old cesspool?

Seems to deep to be a privy or cesspool for this area (based on other privies/trash pits ive found). Also there is a ton of bricks in the well. Which probably means the bricks use to come several feet above ground, and then they threw the bricks in the well when covering it. Also based on the shear amount of water this thing has, every morning I have to pump out about 2 feet of water.

 

[itzyoboyandrew]

Its slow diggin
The platform i stand on is 3 feet 5 inches down. max depth of the hole is just under 4 feet.



Its only brick lined the first 10 rows.

Also note worth I was able to pull/wiggle out 3 timbers. One of the timbers had a square nail in it, the boards are quite heavy, about 6-7ft long, and charred top to bottom. They were sticking out of the well 2 feet before i pulled them out, they were standing straight up, so the well goes down atleast another 5 feet

 

[nagant]

If it's a cistern you can probe and hit the ceiling, that would tell you the size by finding the edges. If it is a cistern the fill will slope off fast once your past the roof, don't slide in