1932 – 1934
In a chalk district such as this, where clay underlies the chalk layers, springs are numerous and, up to the present day, are the only source from which the inhabitants can obtain their water supply.
To trap and conserve sufficient spring water for the houses, wells have been made, so that in every village, where possible, each house has a well or at least there is one well between three or four cottages. This is sufficient, except in times of extreme drought, which are not often experienced.
Some houses are provided with simple wells, with a chain and bucket attached to a windlass to obtain the water. They are covered by a wooden lid which is either removed bodily or opened in part for the bucket to be plunged into the water. At Hanging Langford the wells have not all a windlass. In some cases the inhabitants obtain the water by slipping the bucket on to a hook, securely fastened to the end of a long pole. This is put into the well and it is possible to imagine what a difficult and arduous task the men and women must accomplish before the day’s supply of water can be obtained. On laundry days it is all the more difficult, as the supply needed is necessarily greater.
Other houses have wells permanently covered in, and the water is obtained by pumping. Then there are wells in the valley from which the water supply is pumped to outlying farm buildings. At Wylye is a wind pump designed for this purpose, is in a field near Wylye Station. The wind pump (or pumping engine when wind is not sufficient) draws the water from a 53 feet deep well and supplies water to Bilbury Farm buildings, pumping the water 235 feet upwards in a distance of three quarters of a mile. There, it is stored in a tank capable of holding 3,000 gallons, which can be filled in 24 hours when a strong wind is blowing.
Several wind pumps of this type are to be found in this district, but not all of them are supplied with pumping engines for use at times when the wind is not strong enough to do the pumping by moving the great wheel (or sails of the pump). These wind pumps also supply water to the downlands for the cattle. This is the only way of providing the downlands with a good supply of water, for it would be far too costly, and possibly useless, to attempt to sink wells in upper chalk land districts, 500 or more feet above sea level.
Wells in the villages vary in depth, but are generally between twenty and thirty feet. The one providing Bilbury Farm buildings with water is 53 feet deep, as before mentioned, and has a bore of 20 feet. At present it is estimated that there is about 20 feet of water in this well. In Wylye Cow Down Bottom there are two wells. This Bottom was in all probability a river valley in prehistoric days, and one of the wells is situated near what would have been the source of the river, while the other would have been in the middle course. This latter well, the one nearest Wylye village, is 90 feet in depth, and a well house, which is kept locked, has been built round it. In 1933 after a summer drought period, the poultry farmer who uses this well could obtain no water from it and had to get water for his fowls from Bilbury buildings. The well near the head of the valley is 100 feet deeper than the other, and really consists of a well and a bore. It supplies the Wylye Down buildings with water. It is a comparatively recently made well – dating from 1923 or 1924 – and has a fairly good supply of water throughout the year. Its depth, compared with that of the other well in the valley, shows how much deeper the water level must be within half a mile of the first well, and about 350 feet above sea level.
The method of well making is simple. First comes the water diviner with his hazel twig. He finds the place where water is likely to be obtained most easily, and is followed by the well diggers. They begin by marking out a circle of about three feet in diameter, then start digging. Generally two men only are needed for this work. When the hole is too deep to be worked from above, they take it in turn to work from inside, first, throwing up all the earth with their spades and later making use of a basket and rope, with the aid of which loose earth may be removed from the hole. As the hole gets deeper a ladder is attached to the top, so that the men may easily get in and out of it. So the digging continues until water is reached. Then the well is ‘bricked in’ for about three quarters of its probable depth, and is made deeper so that plenty of water bubbles into the well from the springs in the soil. If a well has been dug to a great depth and no water has been obtained, a bore is necessary, and this means extra expense as boring apparatus is required. A bore was necessary in the making of the Wylye Cow Down Bottom well, and several times it was almost decided to cease work as water was so difficult to obtain, but eventually the subterranean waters were tapped and the well received water.