SDO11513 - Dry Well Under Tourist Information Centre, Bell Street, Shaftesbury

Building contractors Foote and Bicknell Ltd of Bruton, Somerset were engaged by North Dorset District Council to build an extension to the Tourist Information Centre in Bell Street, Shaftesbury. Work commenced on 2 February 1998. When the foundation trenches were dug what appeared to be a manhole was exposed at a depth of approximately 600mm below the existing external paving level. Further investigation revealed a circular opening approximately 640mm in diameter; this opening proved to be the top of a deeper pit, approximately 2 metres in diameter and 4.2 metres deep. Tony and Brenda Innes of the Shaftesbury Historical Society were asked to visit the site, and identified the feature as a dry well. According to Mr and Mrs Innes, these features are relatively common in Shaftesbury, and this one was probably connected to a former public house on this or an adjacent site. Before the pit was filled it was dismantled down to the 'shoulder'. This revealed that it was constructed of brick, 225mm thick, rendered internally.