Trying to identify a hole in the ground!!

[JDLDIY]

Hi there, I have the following hole in the ground at the front of our house and I just wondered whether anyone might throw any light on what it could have been used for.

Obviously I'm thinking it was either a well or some sort of sesspit. Are there any features which might identify which it is? I'm currently ploughing through the deeds to see if I can see mention of it anywhere, so far with no success.

I'm thinking it's more likely to have been a well as there's no lining which I would have imagined a sesspit to have had? You can see a broken black PVC pipe coming in from the left and there's a metal pipe coming up on the right which disappears into the concrete and heads towards the house but I can't see that it goes anywhere. Someone's obviously thrown some rubble down it.

Many thanks.

 

[HERTS P&D]

Looks like it could be a 'catch pit.'

See near the bottom of the page:

http://www.pavingexpert.com/drain03.htm

Andy

 

[scbk]

Hard to tell the scale of it from the photo, could even be an old septic tank?

Do you have another septic tank elsewhere or are you on the mains?

 

[JDLDIY]

Thanks to you both, the hole is beneath a standard size drain cover if that helps make sense of the scale.

Would a septic tank, even one dating back as old as the house (1920s) not have been lined with tar or something?

 

[JDLDIY]

Oh, just realised I didn't answer your question - no we are on mains sewerage. The house was built on what had been farming land in the 1920s, so it could be the remnants of a land drainage system I suppose. I can only see the one pipe going in at the moment, I'll check tomorrow for another one as a catch pit would require.

 

[mattylad]

Dig down and find out or fill in some more & forget

 

[rjm2k]

Where do those pipes look like they come from/head to based on their direction?

 

[HERTS P&D]

Post a picture from the front of the manhole looking at the house.

Andy

 

[JDLDIY]

Dig down and find out or fill in some more & forget

Yeah, I know that's what I should do, but........

Where do those pipes look like they come from/head to based on their direction?

The soil size pipe points parallel to our house's front wall which is only about 4' away, the smaller pipe points towards our front wall but at an angle. It doesn't match up with any pipework in the house and we have concrete floors there, so can't see under.

Post a picture from the front of the manhole looking at the house.

The second pic is from that angle

 

[Burnerman]

The original fresh water soakaway, I would think!
John

 

[mattylad]

It could be your secret nuclear bunker.

 

[JDLDIY]

Or a fancy wine cellar!

Seriously, depending on what it and another hole in the back garden are, I was winding whether they could be used for rain water storage system.....

 

[Burnerman]

Originally that could well be what they were used for - animal watering or for plants.....fairly common in rural areas where there wasn't a reliable mains supply.
John