A couple have uncovered a secret well hidden under their living room whilst renovating their new home. First time buyers Shaniah Lloyd, 28, and partner Ross Bennett, 25, bought an Edwardian property for £192,000 as a renovation project, which hadn't been updated since at least the 1960s.
The pair were lifting up the floorboards in their living room to have the boiler replaced when they came across a ring of bricks with a deep pit in the middle in front of the bay window. Local archives revealed that their two-bed terraced home in Coventry sits on the site of a former farm.
Shaniah, a postwoman, and Ross, an electrician, now intend to make a feature out of the 10 foot well - adding a glass top and putting lights inside. After climbing inside, Ross said the bottom is wet clay and thinks if they dug it out it would reach water and be a functioning well.
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Shaniah said: "We couldn't believe it. I'm half really excited and half terrified. Ross just thinks it's great. I've watched the Ring though, and Silence of the Lambs, so I'm a bit freaked out by it as well as excited."
The couple have kept the well covered for now as their six-year-old pet pooch Bruce is curious about the discovery. "We'd had such a busy day and at 10pm we remembered the plumbers were coming and we needed to take up the floorboards by morning," Shaniah said.
"Ross went to do it and he just started shouting and shouting. He just saw a perfect circle of bricks and then total darkness so shone his head torch down. He jumped in looking for treasure and I just thought 'he's crazy'. We couldn't sleep it was so exciting."
Shaniah added: "There was a massive [fabric] dyeing industry in this area and I wondered at first if it was something to do with that. But it's too deep for that and we did some research and discovered our house is built on an old farm where there was a well, so we're sure that's what it is.
"It's a piece of Coventry history and the whole community is excited about it. We're a bit apprehensive because we're first time buyers If anyone has advice they can give about turning it into a feature we'd be glad to hear it - renovation is hard enough already."
