New house - it's got a well

[JandLandG]

well then, we've just moved into a c1900 terraced house in the countryside and are delighted.

we're thinking of a kitchen extension on the back of it but just outside where this would finish is a well.

well, i say well, its a circle of bricks at the moment (1.5 meters in diameter approx), covered by a wooden board with some concrete on top to stop nippers getting in.

well, well, we thought when we pondered our options, we'll do make a feature of that maybe.

so, anyone any ideas what we should do with it? previous well experience not necessary, but if you know any good websites to have a look at, i'd be grateful.

when you type well into google its tricky to sift all the other well references out so any thoughts appreciated

hope you're all well.

[scurryfunge]

Include it within your extension and have a glass cover over it, as part of your flooring.It would be very cool to have in the middle of the kitchen. It would go down well indeed

[GrendelsMum]

Would it be inside or outside the extension?
If inside, you can cover it in toughened glass and spotlight it as a feature. If outside, you can presumably do the same thing! Or you could perhaps add a hand pump on the top and use it to water the garden with?

[Pootles2010]

Do you actually have a well or are you just trying to see how many times you can fit 'well' into a post? If you do, I guess you'd need to speak to builder to check how strong a structure it is, but don't see why you can't just incorporate it in - a few of pubs in our area have wells in them, normally they have stuck a few lights down them so you can see how far down it goes, then glass over the top.

[scurryfunge]

walk on well cover

[champagnesupernova]

Hello
Well, well, well!
Another well owner!
I have a well - it's in my --f-utility room.

Former occupants put some seriously toughened glass over it and plumbed a light in that shines down so you can see it all.
They had one of those rustic chest of wicker drawers half positioned over it - we haven't managed to find anything that really fits yet.
I will try and put some pics on my profile if I can find 'em.

[SoupDragon]

Fill in in (properly) and forget about it. Unless it is a rustic well full of charm it will look like a dirty hole in the ground.

[ReshapeWhileDamp]

I'm not convinced about spotlighting it and making it a feature, tbh. Like Soupdragon says, if it's charming and pretty it might be ok but most wells are just slimy dark holes.

Unless you put a gnome at the bottom, I suppose. You could add a slit in the glass cover to throw coins down!

[JandLandG]

wow

thanks for all this, everyone...really good.

i've seen those inside wells....they look v nice but the well's a little too far from the main building for that, but a possible exterior version with walk on glass might be ok

i'll keep an eye out for options, but will get it done with the main work, hopefully in the autumn.

thanks again

[Littlefish]

We found a well in our kitchen when we took the floor up.

We looked at various options for covering it with toughened glass and lighting it as feature, but it was going to cost about £1500.00.

Our well was about 8m deep - 4m of water and 4m of space. As advised by our structural engineer, we filled the well with rubble to within 2m of the top. Then we poured a layer of concrete in, then a metal mesh layer, then more concrete.

I just wanted to be sure that there was no chance dd could ever fall in .

Since we found our well, 4 of my friends have also said that they found wells in their houses/gardens. They are common as muck round here

[Chatelaine]

I cannot believe anyone would fill in a well! It allows for the possibility of free water. It is an asset...Inside wells are naff beyond belief imo & i have seen a few, all lit and covered in glass, so what? The message is what, how quaint people use to be? no they were practical and well (!) engineered. We have a victorian sump, a slightly different thing, fed by rainwater drains and we use it to water a sizeable vegetable plot - for free.

[DontCallMeBaby]

I'd keep it usable - my parents got theirs into working order in summer 2007 when the water was cut off for over a week, it wasn't drinkable but it meant they could flush the loo without having to cart great loads of water back from the bowsers. Which is handy when you're over sixty and live on the side of a cliff steepish hill.

[Littlefish]

The trouble is that ours was in the middle of our kitchen! If it had been outside, we would have kept it, but it just wasn't practical to keep it.

[ninedragons]

Don't ever watch The Ring.

That's as far as my well advice goes.

[frecklyspeckly]

The house we are buying (hopefully, depending on temporary insanity on behalf of seller) it too has a well shown on the deeds.
Solicitor querying it as apparently in the 1850's other neighbours had a right to use it, and we are supposed to be responsible for keeping it in good working order. No chance, if we find it, as most days forget to empty the dishwasher before bedtime. Well maintainance will not fit into my shedule.