All's 'well' in flooding problem

Buried beneath the ground of his store was a perfectly preserved ancient well, ten feet in depth containing natural spring water.

Richard had trouble with flooding for over a year and many experts, including plumbers and water board officials, were left floundering by the problem.

It was only after he decided to clear away some of the old machinery that he noticed that one of his stones had sunk about three foot and water had formed on the surface.

"We decided to dig into the floor to find the source of the problem and I was amazed when we turned up a beautiful old well," Knox explained.

His father Andrew, who began trading at the shop in the 1890s, was unaware of the well's existence and it was thought it could be well over 200 years old.

The place where the well was discovered was once a coal yard and it's thought this was the reason it was not discovered sooner.

"Large quantities of coal would have covered the area up until ten years ago when heavy machinery was placed on the spot," he said.

The only thing covering the well was a huge piece of rock, and Mr Knox intended to keep it uncovered until he received expert views on the exact age of the well.

"When I get as much as I can on the well I will probably fit a water pump to it to keep the level down and cover it again," said Mr Knox.