Featuring... The Village Well |
A selection of photographs taken in October and November 2003 during the final work on the restoration of the Village Well. | |
Work in Progress ![]() |
This photograph shows the complete structure covered by a tarpaulin to protect the roof laths. The gate faces Park Road and the picture was taken from the High Street end. Access to the enclosure was not available and all close up photographs were taken through the wire fencing. | |
Over the last few years the structure started to develop a severe lean and after some temporary repairs, a full restoration was commissioned in August 2003. It was important to find the right contractor and finally, McCurdy and Co. were engaged. The company has experience of working on timber buildings and they worked on the Globe Theatre project. It was intended that the structure be dismantled and rebuilt using original materials where possible. It is somewhat of an irony that the damage was caused by water!....It appears that the lean was the result of a leaking water pipe nearby. |
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New concrete footings were laid and the main uprights replaced. Each wooden upright has a metal foot bolted down into the concrete. The new timber for the sides were cut, painted and delivered ready for fitting The close up below shows the detail of the fixing at the bottom of one of the main uprights, into the concrete. ![]() |
![]() This photgraph was taken on the 26th of October 2003 and shows the Park Road side of the Well with the gate in place. | |
Park Road end ![]() |
This photograph shows the side of the structure as it appeared when walking up Park Road towards the High Street. The gate can be seen on the left, inside the structure. Note the main wooden uprights elevated off the ground on metal 'feet'. | |
Park Road end - close up![]() |
This is a close up of the side shown above and shows clearly one of the two main wheels of the winding gear. The large grey upright (on the left hand side of the wheel) is of timber construction, and is one of four legs that support a rectangular frame rather like that of a simple table. The picture also shows a sort of A frame which gives extra support to the axle between the two large wheels. The horizontal grey beam is just visible along the top of the white board. | |
High Street end - close up![]() |
This is a close up from the opposite end to the picture above, i.e. the High Street end. The grey upright in the picture above is shown on the far right in this photograph. Oddly, the A frame on this side appears to include a central vertical support. The horizontal grey beam is clearly visible in this picture. | |
Woodmansterne Lane side - close up ![]() |
This picture shows the wide side of the structure and is taken from the Woodmansterne Lane end. The long horizontal beam is clearly visible just above the topmost white boards. Note the angled support where the horizontal beam joins the upright. The old roof tiles which would be reused can be seen on the left hand side of the picture. | |
Well entrance - Park Road ![]() |
This picture was taken on Sunday 2nd November 2003. Within the previous week all the slats had been attached and the majority of the roof re tiled. The gate had been removed and laid on its side inside the structure and this allowed our photographer to take a few shots through the opening. | |
Winding gear timber frame ![]() |
This picture shows the old timber frame which supports the winding gear. A number of spare slats lie over the top of the well cover. | |
Well head cover ![]() |
This photo shows a close up of the timbers which have been used to cover the opening to the well. It looks like these have not been moved during the restoration process. | |
Restoration of the roof![]() |
A picture of the partly tiled roof at the High street end of the structure.
Also notice the 'stains' on the white board and the slats. These show the position of the nails which were hammered below the surface of the wood and the resulting holes filled. The horizontal board is set at an angle and is overlapped by the lowest course of tiles. This allows rainwater to drip from the roof away from the woodwork. | |
All done!![]() |
Picture taken on Sunday 16th November 2003 The Village Well stands proud again. | |
Commentary
This set of pictures was taken by Lewis Wood, a member of the Banstead History Research Group. The notes are simply his observations on the day. If you have spoken to the workmen, or have other knowledge of the structure and building of the Well, please let us know and we will include the information in this feature. |
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