Garden Shed, Well and Root Cellar

Garden Shed and Well

The garden shed structure was included with the house on the 1983 listing of the property on the South Carolina Historic register. At that time it was listed as the “well house”. Our inspection of the structure indicates it was likely a garden shed. Restoration work included replacing the roof and one wall which were completely rotted.

The adjacent well appears to be original and hand dug. A 1934 painting was found in the house showing the actual well house and water tower over the well, next to the garden shed. Comments from the Page family also indicate that there was also a windmill by the well and water tower. This arrangement probably provided running water to the first story of the house before electrification.

Family Painting

The well and garden shed are shown here before restorations.

Well and Garden Shed before restoration

The old well cover was recently removed and the well inspected and measured. The shaft appears hand dug with a stacked stone lining. The well is 50 feet deep from ground level and holds 12 feet of water. An old pipe used to pump water from the well is still hanging from one side and probably weighs several hundred ponds. Over the decades, this weight appears to have tipped the above ground brick well wall down on that side.

Securing work on the well included building of a new cover and the addition of a glass panel for viewing the interior safely. A photo through the viewing window is seen here.

Well

Root Cellar

The root cellar, a frequent component of historic homes, was also on our restoration plan for August. This underground storage space was subject to foundation work, a new entry staircase, floor paving and a sump pump. With these upgrades, the root cellar is now capable of remaining dry for retention of house foundation integrity. Before and after views are shown below.

Before..

New entrance to root cellar.

Completed restoration.

Conclusion:

The progress made in August on the restoration of our historic house, including the work on the Garden Shed, Well, and Root Cellar, is important to our commitment to preserving this bit of Little Mountain heritage. Stay tuned for more updates on this exciting journey.