My wife and I were in the midst of renovating an old farmhouse — dust, creaky floorboards, the lingering odor of must and old varnish. Once I began to remove the floorboards in the entryway, I didn’t have very high expectations and thought nothing too exciting, a few rusted nails and some garbage. With an audible clump, I did so, and, unidentified to me, emptied into what seemed to be a 19th-century water cistern, a stone-lined, rectangular cavity with two clay pipes protruding in its corner.
Not your everyday find.
At least a first glance suggested it was some kind of storage pit. Some research — online and in the soil — revealed that this was likely a 19th-century water cistern.
On a well-constructed rectangular chamber—lined with stone and solid—greater care was taken. Those two 6-inch clay pipes weren’t just ornamental. They were positioned on purpose, and the angle was closing in as though they had once funneled something in toward them.
Cisterns of this type were once widespread in country houses during the 1800s. They kept water—it was typically rain or runoff from a nearby stream—on hand, particularly in places where wells were not reliable. This farmhouse is on sandy soil, and shallow wells on this property are less reliable. For that reason a cistern was a necessity and not simply a convenience.
The clay pipes gave it away. At that time, clay was strong and didn’t disintegrate, so it was perfect for conveying water. These pipes likely emptied into a gutter, or perhaps even a brook. Water would drift by gravity into the chamber — no pumps, no electricity — just clever engineering.
With a set-up like this, homeowners enjoyed a consistent supply for cooking, cleaning, drinking, and even watering the garden. It was a backup system, and sometimes the only system there.
For a moment I contemplated trying to bring it back to life. From above, a rain barrel, the cistern supplies a garden irrigation system. It could work. But first I would need to trace those pipes and check the chamber for residue or long-lost fittings. That could help me understand how it functioned, how much water it contained.
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