Bid to uncover mystery of village well

AFTER discovering an ancient well in the back yard of her Warburton home schoolgirl Emily Harrop called in an archaeologist to research it's history. Emily, aged 11, had heard about Roman finds being discovered near her home at Warburton and wondered if there was a link with the mystery well. She contacted local archaeologist James Balme through his local history website and he has now undertaken to try and trace the origins of the well, which appears to be sourced by an underground spring. Emily said: "I wanted to write about the well in a school project. I knew some Roman finds had been made and I was able to contact James through his website. "I hope he discovers some Roman finds in it!" While Emily's home in Townfield Lane shows up on old maps there is no indication of a well. Little is known about the history of the property, which was previously owned by the Co-op. James believes the well could have once been the water source for the whole village hundreds of years ago. The area is steeped in ancient history, with the old St Werbergh's Church, some ancient stocks and the site of a Roman fortress, which is currently being investigated by James. Over recent years he has discovered hundreds of Roman artefacts, including brooches and coins. Commenting on the well, James said: "I descended into the well by ladder to examine it's structure and to see if any artefacts were visible at the bottom. "Unfortunately due to recent heavy rain the water level in the well had risen to in excess of five feet deep making it impossible to examine the sediments at the bottom of the well. "I now plan to return to the well during the summer when we should have much drier weather, thus allowing water levels to drop significantly and allowing us to sift through the bottom of the well to try and locate any datable artefacts. "The well is in excess of 6ft wide and over 20ft deep and is constructed out of sandstone blocks which is unusual in the village. "It is interesting that this well is not marked on any maps of the village and I intend to find out why. "As for a date for the well, this is going to take some time but artefacts which lay in the bottom will help us to date it during the investigation this summer."

* Picture shows Emily with James as he prepares to investigate the mystery well.