This article was written by Sally Scheffers for the History of Thursley Society in 1993 (as can be seen from the dot matrix print) and now includes some Thursley wells.
The full article can be downloaded from this pdf
A Donkey Wheel in action
As mentioned in the article, a donkey wheel can be seen working in Carisbrooke Castle:
Thursley Wells:
Patricia Coles of Upper Ridgeway Farm believes that her well is probably both the deepest and oldest in Thursley. It would have been dug before the building of the house in 1331 as water was required for its building. In common with most wells, it was built nine feet from the exterior wall although it is now within the curtilage of the house having been absorbed by an extension. It is stone built for approximately seven feet, and then it was dug through rock. It is 100' deep to the water level and the water is 14' deep.
Susan Goodridge of Pitch Place Farm discovered they had a well within their property when digging up the floor. The rebuild, approved by Waverley, consists of a new top layer of bricks but the lower brick work and pumps are original plus the cow bone, which serves as a water monitor, lies at the bottom.
Julia Cash sent this photograph of the well in the garden of Street House, Summer 2024.
There is also a well within the curtilage of the property but it covered up by floorboards and a stud wall. These photographs were supplied by a previous owner.
Gillian Duke of Badgers, The Lane, sent these two photographs. The well is now within the curtilage of the property but earlier plans show it the requisite nine feet from the back door.
Lisa Woods of Holly Cottage, Bowlhead Green, sent these photographs of the well that is now beneath her kitchen sink! It had to be filled in by order of the Environment Agency due to an oil spill:
Other wells have been reported in Hole Cottage, the garden of what was The Red Lion Inn, Boxalls (now filled in), Red Lodge (covered by a fridge!), Watts Gallery Chapel, Robin Hill (Bowlhead Green), Punch Bowl Farm, The Old Vicarage and Gnome Cottage (in the Punch Bowl).
Please send details of any more to davidjohnyoung51@hotmail.com
Thanks to Ian Exton, wells can be found on two maps. He wrote:
I was just looking at old OS maps of the village. It seems they really liked putting the wells on the map in the 1870s. They're very clearly marked. https://maps.nls.uk/view/102347514
These show the location of wells at Emley Farm and (Upper) Ridgeway Farm
Also, try the British Geological Society map as you can turn on borehole and water well data. https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html
With well data turned on