Monument record 0124400000 - SE OF IVINGHOE ASTON

WELL, FOUND WHEN INSTALLING PETROL PUMPS & C. HAD FOOTHOLDS IN SIDE (B4). REPORTED AS A PREHISTORIC MINE WITH FLINT AXE &C AT BOTTOM, ROMAN & SAXON DEBRIS ABOVE (B1); BUT UNDOUBTEDLY SUNK FOR WATER, & MOST POTTERY IN FILL MEDIEVAL (B2). 115 FEET DEEP (B3); AT LEAST 70-80 FEET DEEP (B4). NGR TO SITE (B2).



[SP 963 172] A well shaft situated near the garage at the top of the road leading to Ivinghoe Aston was examined by Messrs F.G. Gurney of Eggington and Mr. T. W. Bagshawe, whose conclusions are as follows:- The shaft was undoubtedly sunk for water. The level of the springs is visible a few hundred yards to the east in Coombe Hole, and the idea of the shaft having been sunk in search of flints is impossible since there are no flint deposits in the lower chalk. Pottery fragments found in the well were mainly mediaeval, possibly fourteenth/fifteenth centuries; there were also fragments of two Romano-British vessels. Other finds included worked flints,
hammer-stones which might possibly have been Mediaeval and for domestic use, two fragments of dressed 'Totternhoe' stone (clunch), probably from a hearth (one shows distinct signs of fire), two or three pieces of quartzite, and animal and bird bones. Romano-British pottery occurs in patches all over the slopes of the hill, especially near Coombe Hole, and the Early Iron Age pottery is confined to the great enclosure on top of the hill [SP 91 NE 5] (B5).
Mr. F.G.Gurney and Mr. Bagshawe were convinced that the well found in 1932 near Ivinghoe Beacon was mediaeval and not Roman from its appearance as much as from the objects found. It is probably of 14th century date (B6).

This record includes National Record of the Historic Environment Information provided by Historic England on 4 June 2025 licensed under the Open Government Licence.