A builder was ‘blown away’ when he discovered a well believed to be hundreds of years old during work on a pub in Elton.
Gary Worthington, director of Build Force, found the sandstone well underneath the old kitchen when he and his team were building a two-story extension to the Wheelwright Arms on Ince Lane.
Gary said: “It stopped us in our tracks but lucky for us it wasn’t in a place that would get in the way of anything structural and we started to devise plans to incorporate it as a feature in the bar.
“Nothing has been disturbed on the well because we wanted to keep it as original as possible.
“It’s impressive to see, it really does look cracking.”
Curious customers can now peer down the ‘sizeable’ well, which is about 55ft deep and measures one and a half metres in diameter, thanks to a glass covering and specially-installed lights.
Landlord Sean Crosswaite, whose family have owned the pub since 1996, said they were ‘shocked’ to find the well at first, as it doesn’t appear on any of their plans or deeds.
“I’ve spoken to a couple of landlords from 30 or 40 years ago and they weren’t aware of it either.
“Apart from cleaning it out, we have left it exactly as we found it.
“Customers are amazed when they see it, and glad that we’ve made a feature of it.”
While the exact age of the well is unknown, the pub is at least 300 years old and Gary believes that a cast iron draw pipe was added about 100 years ago to aid the extraction of water.
Gary and Sean are keen to find out when the well was dug and are appealing to anybody who may have information about its history to contact Gary on 07754076167.
