Old wells in woods

[RIdirtdigger]

Hi everyone. I was wondering if anyone has ever encountered a very old well in the middle of the woods but no cellar hole or "cabin site" nearby. A few spots I intend to hit this year have only a well and no cellar hole in plain site. I am hoping for them to produce. The last time I hit a "cabin site" I got my oldest coin a 1694 William and Mary halfpenny. Just wanted to get everyone's take on the significance of wells.

[freemindstuck]

Yeah I've run across old wells out in the middle of no where. They are usually livestock wells.

[MangoAve]

Yup, I found one but since I didn't know where to start, I didn't stay long. There was a well I found one time hiking some trails in 2011. It was an old well but I think at some point it was redone with mortar between the stones. It was near an old main road, but now there is a new development close by. The area surrounding the well is now swampy so it made it difficult to swing the area. Because I have many other spots to check, I never bothered to do the research on this spot to land grants and figure out which property it was on and how old it was, and go back ect ect... idk If I can even see it from the google maps or not to get a location to even begin with which property it used to belong to, or to go back there and get a gps off my google map app. Idk if it will ever be dry enough again, esp with the snow now, cuz 2011 (when I found the spot) I actually walked out 200 ft onto where the CT river would have been since it was such a dry summer.


Edit: ...I take that back. I just checked the map and I know which plot it once belonged to (with two houses). And I do have a house near by on my list which I saw in the same area there is a house missing across the street in the same general area where I was. Three cellar holes and one house. One well I saw belonging to the two houses to recap/clarify).

[Lodge Scent]

Yeah I've run across old wells out in the middle of no where. They are usually livestock wells.

That's been my experience also. If there was a house nearby the iron should give it away in most cases I would think.

[RIdirtdigger]

well I have yet to detect around either of the wells so hopefully they will turn out to be good spots

[del]

Wells were either associated with a dwelling (house with cellar or an "on-grade" cabin ) or a barn or small structure . very very rarely would they just take all the time and effort to just randomly dig one . I have detected around wells that seemed to be lone or abandon by themselves only to find a structure within 50 to 70 yards away , these are usually very productive and unhit sites.

[RIdirtdigger]

Wells were either associated with a dwelling (house with cellar or an "on-grade" cabin ) or a barn or small structure . very very rarely would they just take all the time and effort to just randomly dig one . I have detected around wells that seemed to be lone or abandon by themselves only to find a structure within 50 to 70 yards away , these are usually very productive and unhit sites.
Yes I agree and I can't wait to hit these two sites.

[MangoAve]

Good thing you started this thread. It got me another place I can check as a 'no permission needed' site. Well... one that I didnt realize was actually worth checking.

[RIdirtdigger]

Good thing you started this thread. It got me another place I can check as a 'no permission needed' site. Well... one that I didnt realize was actually worth checking.

In the Fall I went to a site in some open space woods behind my uncles house. Many years ago when my dad and his siblings were growing up, my grandmother had an old well filled in because she was afraid someone would fall in. My uncle also remembered seeing a small depression (not a cellar hole) close by. That site gave up four very early coppers and many colonial relics with the newest items being around the revolutionary war. No one (including me) would have ever known there was once a house there if not for the well and some information from my family.

[Isaac]

Good luck Jim these sound like some awesome areas to try for when that dang snow melts...