hayfield Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) Our garden is not that long (was 40' before the extension was built) and where the garden shed at the end of the garden and was there was what I thought a manhole by the door. When the extension was built we found the old (now unused)sewer pipe coming from next door but no signs of any drains going off to the manhole. The new sewer pipe goes to the other next door house. So what what I thought the man hole was (old sewer) was wrong On inspection today I thought I would lift the lid to see what was there, found as you can see its not a manhole cover but a caped rectangular chamber . Please has anyone any ideas as what it is/was Its a concrete slab which has a metal surround, cemented to a brick chamber Edited August 13, 2018 by hayfield 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Fen End Pit Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2018 Remains of old septic tank? David 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2018 (edited) My thoughts would be either access to an old septic tank or if the property is old perhaps a disused well. My Son found one in his garden when clearing an area of overgrown shrubs. It as brick lined at the top and had been covered with a large stone slab. Still fully functional and he has no worries about water shortages for his vegetables. Edited August 13, 2018 by TheSignalEngineer 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 Thanks, not that up to rural living. House built in 1920's, had an outside loo and coal house which was connected to old drains. Bathroom & WC fitted I guess in the 60's and our house had a new set of drains to the house next door but perhaps the outhouse toilet may have been connected to the other next door house via old sewer. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 My thoughts would be either access to an old septic tank or if the property is old perhaps a disused well. My Son found one in his garden when clearing an area of overgrown shrubs. It as brick lined at the top and had been covered with a large stone slab. Still fully functional and he has no worries about water shortages for his vegetables. I thought about a garden well but its a rectangular chamber !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free At Last Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 It might be your new railway room... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-44226852 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 We have several such structures on our own, and neighbouring, land. Under the boundary fence on one side is an old well, which according to someone who was brought up next door, was infilled with, amongst other things, his brother's 'Indian' motor-bike. When next door, on the other side, was having a new extension built, the builders discovered a much larger structure, which had to be back-filled, then covered with a concrete raft, doubling the cost of the project. All part of the delights of country life.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold TheSignalEngineer Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2018 I thought about a garden well but its a rectangular chamber !! They only have to be round in fairy tales. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 13, 2018 Author Share Posted August 13, 2018 It might be your new railway room... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tees-44226852 Railroom !!! I would be renting it out 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 If you live in an old mining area, then a capped mine shaft is a possibility. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 13, 2018 Access to an old wartime air raid shelter? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold russ p Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2018 If you live in an old mining area, then a capped mine shaft is a possibility. Just what he wants near his back door! Poor bloke will be scared stiff after reading some of this........ Ah didn't they put concrete covers over unexploded WW2 bombs...?... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brack Posted August 13, 2018 Share Posted August 13, 2018 Do you live anywhere near Thebes and the valley of the kings? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted August 13, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 13, 2018 Do you live anywhere near Thebes and the valley of the kings? John's in Essex where there are more gold chains that the valley of the Kings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Rather than a well, it could be a cistern, replenished from rainwater running off roofs- my friends in France still have one in regular use, though it's quite a bit bigger than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Just what he wants near his back door! Poor bloke will be scared stiff after reading some of this........ Ah didn't they put concrete covers over unexploded WW2 bombs...?... Well, you do need to be a bit more specific about location if you want to know what an unspecified concrete slab might be covering (see from Dave that John is in Essex, where mine shafts are not that common). As for unexploded WW2 bombs, a concrete cover would be highly unlikely. If known about they were dug down to, and defused if at all possible, when they could be dug out and exploded elsewhere. If defusing was not possible, they would be exploded where they were (if the explosive could not be steamed out). So far as I know, the shaft would be backfilled after the bomb was removed - no need for a concrete cap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 If you live in an old mining area, then a capped mine shaft is a possibility. The area has had clay, sand and gravel extracted but the holes would be much bigger. The village is one of the two highest points in Essex and we are quite close to the summit, so the well idea is out Access to an old wartime air raid shelter? Could be but the hole is more the size of a manhole and goes down vertically John's in Essex where there are more gold chains that the valley of the Kings. More likely to be some bank robbers loot hideaway, Rather than a well, it could be a cistern, replenished from rainwater running off roofs- my friends in France still have one in regular use, though it's quite a bit bigger than this. I think it may be a septic tank, though it would be about 40' away from the brick built privy and about 5' from the boundary. One of my elderly neighbours was bore in the village, lived in the road for years and worked for the company who built the houses, must have a chat with him 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Stubby47 Posted August 14, 2018 RMweb Gold Share Posted August 14, 2018 Could it be something like this : http://shellgrotto.co.uk/history/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hayfield Posted August 14, 2018 Author Share Posted August 14, 2018 Could it be something like this : http://shellgrotto.co.uk/history/ Being in Essex more like shell suite grotto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stewartingram Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 If it is Essex, then it is probably an escape tunnel. Stewart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fat Controller Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 If you live in an old mining area, then a capped mine shaft is a possibility. It would have been a very small shaft; the ones I remember (one was at the back of my primary school, the other at the bottom of our garden) were substantial concrete slabs, between 6" and 1' thick, and about 20' across. One had a bolted and locked inspection cover to allow NCB personnel to check on water build-up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 It would have been a very small shaft; the ones I remember (one was at the back of my primary school, the other at the bottom of our garden) were substantial concrete slabs, between 6" and 1' thick, and about 20' across. One had a bolted and locked inspection cover to allow NCB personnel to check on water build-up. Old shafts come in many different sizes - old ones can be only a couple of feet across. We have a number round here (to the old Stonesfield Slate mines) that are no more than 4ft in diameter (I've been down some of them). Whilst I don't want to scare Hayfield unduly, there are a number of chalk mines in the high parts of Essex, accessed by shaft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium PhilJ W Posted August 14, 2018 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 14, 2018 Old shafts come in many different sizes - old ones can be only a couple of feet across. We have a number round here (to the old Stonesfield Slate mines) that are no more than 4ft in diameter (I've been down some of them). Whilst I don't want to scare Hayfield unduly, there are a number of chalk mines in the high parts of Essex, accessed by shaft. Most of the chalk* mines in East Anglia date back to Neolithic times. Chalk was usually extracted from an open pit. Its probably something such as a septic tank or possibly a wartime structure connected perhaps with the many wartime airfields built in the area. *It would not be the chalk that they were after but the flint nodules that came with the chalk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eastglosmog Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 Phil - chalk mines in Norfolk and Suffolk may be mainly flint mines (1,115 out of the 1,226 known in these 2 counties), but none of the 130 chalk mines known in Essex were for flint. (Which is not to say there were no flint mines in Essex, just none have been discovered so far.) While there are a lot of Neolithic mines in the chalk, there are many medieval and even 19th century ones, as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctor quinn Posted August 14, 2018 Share Posted August 14, 2018 (edited) From the size my first guess would be an electricity supply jointing chamber, where is it in relation to your in coming electricity feed? Edited August 14, 2018 by doctor quinn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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