A wood-lined well was excavated under salvage conditions when it was discovered during quarrying operations. The well lining was made of an oak frame with vertical timber planking set into a construction pit. Tree-ring dating was not successful, but the pottery from within the well established the date of use to C3 AD. Some vessels showed distinctive wear patterns probably associated with their use in lifting water. A wooden artefact is tentatively interpreted as part of the winding structure. Querns, building stone and tiles were also recovered from the backfill. Insect and pollen analysis indicates established grassland, virtually devoid of trees. The wood was from fast-grown trees in open conditions. (1) (2)
The infilling could be divided into three units: a basal 0.6mof grey slightly organic sandwith some
wood fragments (12A); a middle layer of grey sandy silt with large stones, including a topstone of a Millstone Grit beehive quern, twigs and other organic debris (12B); and an upper layer of light grey sand (12C). The upper two units probably represent the deliberate backfilling of the well after abandonment, but the interface between 12A and 12B was marked by a darker, much more organic layer with more wood fragments and this probably accumulated whilst the well was in use. This layer was sampled separately and processed for insect remains. (3)

<1> Thoroton Society, 1995, TTS, pp 15-43 (Published document). SNT1525.

<2> TPAT, 1995, A Romano-British wood-lined well at Wild Goose Cottage, Lound, Nottinghamshire (Unpublished document). SNT1994.

<3> Archaeol Anthropol Sci, 2018, Caught in a trap: landscape and climate implications of the insect fauna from a Roman well in Sherwood Forest, p. 127 (Published document). SNT5332.