A family was left stunned after finding a mysterious 22-foot-deep well beneath their home during building work to extend their kitchen.
Mom Louise Watson, 45, said workmen unearthed the 3-foot-wide water reservoir below an old lean-to structure attached to their 130-year-old terrace.
The top of the brick-lined well, which was covered by a heavy slate slab, was discovered roughly 2 feet beneath the ground’s surface.
When the family finally opened the huge pit and sent a camera down to inspect it, they found it contained 6 feet of “crystal clear” water.
Some horror film-loving visitors had urged Ms. Watson to keep the ancient well covered—which had been buried for decades underground.
But she absolutely loved the old-fashioned design and has now turned it into a glass-topped feature for her new kitchen.
“It’s absolutely beautiful inside. We were shocked as we thought it would be all grimy inside, but it’s perfectly preserved,“ Ms. Watson said. ”There’s around 6 feet of crystal clear water at the bottom—we did wonder if there may be treasure or a body down there.
“I’m lucky, I don’t really watch films that often, especially horror films, so it doesn’t bother me.
“We’ve made a lovely feature out of it now. We’ve added three lights at the top and got specially made durable glass, so you can walk on top of it.”
Ms. Watson, who works for BAE Systems, said she and her husband David, 46, began extension work at the back of their home in Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, England, last year.
The three-bedroom cottage, previously built for iron ore miners, had been occupied by her parents-in-law before the couple moved in with their 11-year-old son Jack 10 years ago.
But as the builders were digging the foundations for the new part of the property in August, they came across a strange stone slab beneath their old lean-to structure.
Ms. Watson then got a call from David to say they had discovered a water well stretching deep under their property.
“My husband rang me in work to tell me that something had been found during the building work,” she said. “At first I panicked and was like ‘Is it a body? Is it a bomb?’ And he was like, ‘No, it’s a well.’
“The builders dug the foundations for the extension and right where the foundations were meant to be lying, they found a big lump of slate.
“They were bashing away at it, and a bit broke off and disappeared. The builders saw it was a hole—and then they heard a ‘plop’ of water.
“We have lived in the house for 10 years. My husband lived here as a child with his family—they were here for around 25 to 30 years—none of us had a clue it was here.
“It’s obviously been covered up by somebody.”
Ms. Watson said a family friend later sent a camera down the huge well to find out what was lurking at the bottom.
This revealed the pit was, in fact, partially filled with crystal-clear water
“There’s no stream nearby running into it—the water trickles down the walls, and it just feeds off the natural water table,” Ms. Watson said. “I ordered testing kits off Amazon to test the alkaline of the water, and it’s not far off tap water—we were amazed.
“We did wonder if we could generate our own water with it, however, when we inquired, it was around 5,000 pounds to start, so we decided to give that a miss.”
Ms. Watson was still unsure of the well’s history but thought it might have been used by farmers hundreds of years ago.
“The area where the homes were being built was farmland, so we’re assuming it’s something to do with the farm. But it’s a big mystery,“ she said. ”I’m fascinated by it, and we really want to know its history.
“We don’t know why it’s here or who put it here. Barrow Council had no records and Cumbria Archive sent some documents over but they didn’t shed any light.”
And despite some visitors being freaked out by the giant pit, which now sits at the back of the new kitchen, Ms. Watson’s family loves their new glass-fronted feature.
She said, “My son Jack is quite happy to walk across it however some visitors can’t handle it.”
