by John Errington, Cemetery Warden
As workmen from Bereavement Services were erecting the new sign for Burngreave Cemetery last week, one stumbled as the earth beneath him gave way.
He had unwittingly discovered the entrance to an old well, predating the cemetery.
As the cemetery was being constructed in the 19th Century, the well was capped with a large slab of sandstone, and then topsoil was spread over it. This arrangement has worked for the past 150 years or so, but in January the weathered slab gave way.
It’s very lucky that no one has been seriously injured or even killed! The drop is about 30 feet and it is said to contain water about six feet deep.
Samples of the brickwork were taken away for dating, and it was indeed confirmed that the well is an ancient structure, used by the local community long before the cemetery was ever thought of.
Rather than fill in the well, which might be considered an act of vandalism considering its historical importance, the Friends of Burngreave Cemetery and Chapel and I are attempting to persuade the Council to cap the existing structure with contemporary bricks and a strong narrow-gauge metal mesh so visitors to the cemetery can look down it.
If the preservation of Burngreave Cemetery has something to do with its historical importance, then the well has got to stay!