The wind in my cellar!

[tom.harrigan]

Here's some pics of my cellar which I recently discovered and dug out. When it's windy outside, a cool breeze blows in through the geological fault in the floor. It's a bit strange so I've decided to keep it as a feature, and hopefully as a handy radon sump. The only down side is that strange noises come through the crack from time to time.

The front of the cellar:

rear of the cellar: (anyone guess what the strange window-like feature is?)

noisy windy crack in the floor:

geological fault seen on the walls:

[Mary Fisher]

That's wonderful! If you've dug all that out well done - it must have been a lot of effort.

I wish it were mine.

Are the walls brick?

The 'window' could be just that - at one time it might have been above ground level and let in light through the slit - if that's what it is.

That vaulted roof suggests not a modern building.

I'm fascinated!

Mary

[The Natural Philosopher]

Yup. thats what wind is. Strange noises coming through the crack ;-)

Not sure I'd call it 'wonderful ' tho...

[Dieseldes]

What a wonderfull discovery, I wonder if the the slit was above the ground at one time, and could be used to fire arrows through, protecting your property?

Des

[tom.harrigan]

The cellar was surprisingly empty of rubble. I think I caused as much to fall in by breaking into it as was there in the first place. I filled a skip by carrying those flexible plastic buckets and up the stairs.

The cellar dates from the 1600s as far as I know. The lower part is simply cut from the bedrock (the local ironstone), and the rest of the walls and the ceiling are made from cut ironstone and mud. There is not a drop of lime in its construction!

I suppose it is entirely possible that the window did look above ground at one time. That would mean the worker's cottages next door were a later addition.

My neighbour, who is a geologist, says he has never come across a fault with a wind blowing through it before!

T

[Dieseldes]

Keep digging there's another room (or Well) down there!!

Des

[tom.harrigan]

It's not actually a slit, it's an iron bar in front of some stones, which look like they were put there from the other side. I'm starting to form the opinion that the window may well have been above ground at some point, and been used to chuck stuff in.

T

[Mary Fisher]

Arrows aren't fired :-)

Mary

[Roger]

The message

from [e-mail] contains these words:

Could be a coal shute.

[The Natural Philosopher]

fire arrows are. Nah nah-nee-nah ;-)

[Rod]

Unless it is a Singijeon! :-) :-)

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember [e-mail] saying something like:

[Tim S]

[e-mail] coughed up some electrons that declared:

Any bodies?

;->

[tom.harrigan]

I'm pretty sure that the window/chute would be for something other than coal, as the cellar predates the availability of coal in these parts. Also, the opening definitely isn't upwards. The window is about

33" deep and has a large cut stone above it acting as a lintel, which supports the wall between me and my neighbours (which is of a similar thickness).

It only makes sense if the window/chute was above ground at some time, or my neighbour has a cellar too.

T

[Calvin]

Where abouts in the country are you? That looks amazingly similar to the cellar in my in-laws house in the Midlands. That part of their house is c17 or c18 depending on which experts you talk to and which bits they are looking at. They have exactly that window arrangement including the slope of the wall beneath it and we're fairly sure it was originally a coal chute. In their case the other side of it is clearly present at the edge of te road. Where would the other side be in your case? It wouldn't surprise me at all to hear that you've discovered another room as it would explain the draft nicely. In my in-laws house the same cellar arrangement extends under the neighbours house and the air in the two connects though gaps in the wall That's even though the neighbours house wouldn't have been built at the same time as the cellar so it must have been under something else originally if you seee what I mean. How about puffing some coloured smoke into the hole and seeing if it magically appears somewhere interesting?

[tom.harrigan]

That's fascinating. I'm in Oxfordshire, but only just - Warwickshire is just a stone's throw away. The nearest well known landmark would be Edge Hill. The house is C17, before coal was used much round here, but not before ale houses at the side of the road were common. I'm becomming more convinced that the ground level was lower, and this was a chute for supplying whatever was stored or brewed down there. I spoke to a conservation officer recently who said it was typical of a C17 ale cellar.

I must say that I'm surprised that an arched ceiling constructed from mud and stone - ie. there isn't any lime in the mortar, has lasted this well. In fact, there isn't really any mortar either - it's just the subsoil!

As for the wind from the crack in the floor, the only conceivable place it could come from is an opening in a small valley about 200m away. It keeps the air fresh down there anyway...

T

[Ron Lowe]

Perhaps your Austrian neighbour has the same kind of cellar, and he keeps his 'other' family down there?

[Calvin]

That would be about 30 miles as the crow flies from my in-law's house.

[Mary Fisher]

is just a stone's throw away. The nearest well known landmark would be Edge Hill. The house is C17, before coal was used much round here, but not before ale houses at the side of the road were common. I'm becomming more convinced that the ground level was lower,

It usually was.

a chute for supplying whatever was stored or brewed down there. I spoke to a conservation officer recently who said it was typical of a C17 ale cellar.

mud and stone - ie. there isn't any lime in the mortar, has lasted this well. In fact, there isn't really any mortar either - it's just the subsoil!

That's how they were made :-)

place it could come from is an opening in a small valley about 200m away. It keeps the air fresh down there anyway...

Have you tried any method of tracing the wind to that opening?

Mary

T

[Tim S]

[e-mail] coughed up some electrons that declared:

Now I'm back from work and can look at your piccies, I must add...

You lucky sod!

Any idea what you'll do with it? Wine/beer cellar? Fit it out for a small office? Workshop?

Cheers

Tim