HISTORICAL investigation has revealed new details about a 147-year-old well recently unearthed in Queanbeyan, a discovery that local heritage expert Pip Giovanelli describes as “a window to another time”.

The nine-metre deep trench was discovered during the demolition of a block of flats on Rutledge Street to make way for the $74 million Queanbeyan Civic and Cultural Precinct.

According to Mr Giovanelli, who also serves as Queanbeyan Palerang-Regional Council’s (QPRC) heritage adviser, it was a bulldozer operator who discovered the man-made structure thought to have first been sunk in 1874.

“What is remarkable about this well is its excellent condition,” said Mr Giovanelli.

“It’s clean, straight and true and in the order of nine-metres deep by about 900 millimetres internal diameter, with water in the base.

“It’s significant as an excellent example of the type, and by extension it demonstrates the competence of the person who built it.”

Mr Giovanelli said wells were not uncommon in 19th century Australia, but many have been filled in, destroyed, built over or are in poor condition with decayed bricks or collapsed stonework.

Research has found that this well was built for Messrs Myers and Emley, two businessmen who started a lemonade factory described as an “aerated water and cordial factory” in Rutledge Street in the early 1870s.

Recently discovered by some enthusiastic community members, an article from “The Queanbeyan Age” published in October, 1874 details a journalist’s tour of the factory.

Having sampled the lemonade, the journalist wrote that he had seen “certainly nothing to surpass the goods produced by this enterprising firm” and that the drinks were distilled in clean bottles that kept “evils” out, otherwise often caused by “dirty and unwholesome corks”.

It also reads: “The water used – a vast quantity being necessary for cleansing, rinsing, and besides that converted into agreeable and wholesome summer drinks – is procured from a newly-sunk well, thus avoiding the animal and vegetable impurities inseparable from river or other surface water.”

“The fact that we have newspaper records that specifically mention this particular well is doubly gratifying,” said Mr Giovanelli.

“What we don’t know is if the well initially extended above ground level in some form or another.

“There is more research that can be done, both on site and in the library.”

According to Mr Giovanelli, by 1878 the building had been sold, with the real-estate agent having advertised it as having an “excellent well of water on the premises”.

However, by 1947 the building had become dilapidated and was sold again and demolished.

Afterwards, in the early 1950s, a two-storey house was built for locals Wilfred and Katherine Cranswick and later served as a block of flats.

While the building was not deemed by the QPRC to have enough heritage status to be retained, a stained-glass window from the building was removed and re-homed at the Queanbeyan museum.

But, the discovery of the well has opened up all sorts of new questions about the heritage status of the location.

“What we didn’t know until the two-storey dwelling was demolished recently, was that the well had been covered over with some timber and sheets of iron and left in situ – with the two-storey place built over the top,” said Mr Giovanelli.

“It, and indeed other artefacts, enable us to tell the stories of the past in a very graphic manner, and to visualise the way that people led their lives not so long ago.”

The community in Queanbeyan and the surrounding areas have been very vocal about their hopes that the well is preserved and potentially even incorporated into a historical feature of the precinct which is set to be completed by early 2023.

“In heritage terms we would say the well has historic value, technical and scientific value, research potential and aesthetic value,” said Mr Giovanelli.

“It has high local heritage significance and may make it on to the Queanbeyan Palerang heritage schedule one day.”

Archaeological work is still being undertaken on the structure with hopes of unearthing more details.

Any findings from the research will be presented to the QPRC Heritage Advisory Committee and to the council.

“It provides a very real and tangible window to another time and by comparison helps us to reflect on the life and technologies we have today,” said Mr Giovanelli.

“I am optimistic that it will be preserved in a way that will allow current and future generations to peer inside and also ponder on its stories.”