Ancient Roman Well Found in Cambridgeshire Was an Engineering Failure

The ancient Romans have been celebrated for their architecture and enduring infrastructure projects, many of which are still standing and could be functional even today. But despite their advanced knowledge in this area Roman architects and engineers did make mistakes, and often they had to rely on trial-and-error to make progress. This fact has been clearly revealed by the discovery of two first century Roman wells found in Cambridgeshire, the first of which was a failure that necessitated the construction of the second.

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A Rare Roman Engineering Disaster

During recent excavations in a Cambridgeshire field, along the route of the National Highways A428 Black Cat to Caxton Gibbet roadway improvement project, archaeologists from the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) were delighted to discover the remnants of two Roman wells. One of the wells was completely lined with wooden boards, while the other had a wooden ladder inside that would have given its builders access to its depths. Everything inside the wells was exceptionally well-preserved, having been protected from the forces of erosion by their chronically waterlogged state.

These wells had each been dug deep into the earth, in an attempt to gain access to underground water sources. But during the construction of the first of the wells, something went terribly wrong. Apparently just as the well was about to be finished, its surrounding walls suddenly caved in, filling in the well’s bottom. The ladder in this well was found encased inside this pile of earth, although it seems no one was harmed during the collapse as no skeletal remains were recovered during the excavations.

“There would definitely be a significant amount of frustration in losing that amount of work,” the A428 dig’s project manager Simon Markus told the Guardian.

“The fact that the ladder was in the well indicates that they were still working on the well at the time the collapse happened. They were about 8.5 meters (26 feet) down, so they were getting close to finishing the excavation.”

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Roman wells were discovered by archaeologists at the A428 roadworks. (MOLA, Museum of London Archaeology)

Unfortunately for the industrious Roman-British well builders, this result was probably inevitable.

“As we discovered when we first started our excavations here, the clay literally peels away from the more compacted earth and stone,” Markus explained in a MOLA press release. “We’ve all done a bit of DIY that hasn’t quite gone to plan, but this was a failure of Roman engineering on an industrial scale. A lot of effort would have gone into digging this well, which they then had to completely abandon.”

But the Romans didn’t give up on the idea. They likely had no choice but to try again, as the population was growing at this busy Romano-British settlement and it would have been essential to supply the people with sufficient water for their personal and industrial needs.

So the Romans tried again, and this time they modified their approach significantly.

The well's wooden boards were preserved in excellent condition. (MOLA)

Getting it Right the Second Time

The second Roman well was found about 65 feet (20 meters) from the first one. This one was quite different than the first, because it was lined all around its interior with pieces of wood, reinforcing the walls to prevent a repeat of the collapse scenario of the first well.

This innovation did the trick, as the second well proved to be sturdy, despite its depth. Curiously, the archaeologists found some lines and markings on the wooden pieces used to line the well’s walls, suggesting they had been decorated for some purpose at some point.

It is unlikely the builders of the well would have intentionally engraved pieces of wood that were to be used exclusively for lining an underground well, since no one would have seen their handiwork. For this reason, the Museum of London Archaeologists believe the wood must have been originally made for another purpose. They suggest the wood pieces might have come from recycled furniture, and if that is true it implies the well builders were looking for a rapid solution and weren’t willing to wait until custom boards could be ordered to commence with the construction of the second well.

In addition to the wooden walls, the Roman designers also added a cobblestone filter at the bottom of the well. This would have acted as a filter, to remove some of the debris that might have contaminated the well water otherwise.

The second well represented a truly remarkable feat of engineering ingenuity and know-how. While the Roman’s original design might have been faulty, it is clear they did learn from their mistakes.

Image of carpentry waste found withing the well. (MOLA)

Colonizing the Resource-Rich Lands of Ancient Cambridgeshire

The nearby settlement dated back to the Iron Age but had been expanded by the Romans. The site was converted into an active industrial area sometime after 43 AD, when the Romans first colonized Britain, and excavations have revealed that carpentry, woodworking and metalworking was practiced on a large scale at the site until around 150 AD. The Romans actually built an enclosure around their settlement there, apparently to ensure it would be protected from vandals or thieves.

The Romans built an extensive network of roads in Cambridgeshire, a ceremonial county in east-central England with its southern border located about 50 miles (80 kilometers) north of London. This shows they were intensely interested in settling this area, likely because they knew it to be a place that was rich in natural resources.

The archaeologists involved in this excavation project hope to learn a lot more about the culture of the Romano-British populations that occupied Cambridgeshire in the first century. At some point the second well was abandoned and used as a dump for waste, and as they work through the pile of buried refuse at the well’s bottom, they expect to find some fascinating artifacts.

Unsurprisingly, evidence of a Roman road that ran close to the settlement has been found, which likely mean the industrial site was integrated into a larger trading network. The Roman footprint remains strong and easily detectible in this part of England, standing as a testament to the rich history of a region that was coveted by the world’s most famous conquerors nearly 2,000 years ago.

Top image: The site of the newly uncovered wooden-boarded Roman well.             Source: MOLA

By Nathan Falde