More information : In April 1967, the previously unknown remains of a timber-lined well were revealed beneath the North West Wing of Appleby Castle (NRHE uid 13288) following localised subsidence of overlying material. The site was inspected by RCHME archaeologists, Ramm and Williams, at the request of the owner. A descriptive record was made before the feature was consolidated and covered; it has not been re-exposed since then. The feature is located beneath the floor of what formerly comprised the ground floor entrance lobby on the south side of the North West Wing, the doorway has since been partially blocked and the room is now (in 2019) used for storage. The investigators reported that only the upper 3ft (c0.9m) were exposed, beneath which it was filled with deposits; the feature was not excavated beyond what was revealed by the subsidence. The exposed structure comprised a square pit lined with stout, close-grained wooden planks, morticed at the corners, to create a shaft with internal dimensions of 3ft5in (c1.04m) square. The top of the timbers were recorded 4ft6in (c1.4m) below the flagstone floor level, probing with rods concluded the feature has a depth of at least 19ft (c5.8m). Prior to the collapse, the well top was sealed beneath pebbles set in clay thought to be a surface contemporary with the well. Over this was observed a layer of clay 1ft (c0.3m) capped by a surface of cobbles laid on clay thought to part of a medieval courtyard. Above this were gravel and rubble deposits overlaid by a layer of mortar and a layer of sand, then sealed with the flagstone floor, all thought to relate to the 17th-century castle construction phase. Based on this stratigraphic sequence and comparison with similar structures more conclusively dated by excavation, the well was interpreted as most probably a Roman construction, although this remains unproven. If a Roman date for the well could be tested and confirmed it would be the first significant piece of evidence attesting to some form of Roman occupation in Appleby and of their overseeing of a strategic crossing point on the River Eden. (1)
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