14 October 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

‘Astonishingly Preserved’ Ancient Roman Well Found in Cambridgeshire was An Engineering Failure

In an excavation at the site of future highway improvements in Cambridgeshire, the team from MOLA (Museum of London Archaeology) uncovered the wooden remains of two Roman wells which contained wood off-cuts from a carpentry workshop and the remains of an almost 2,000-year-old ladder.

However, the excavation also revealed an important detail: The two wells, built in the 1st century AD, reveal a complex design and the trials and errors involved in construction.

Even the Romans, who made significant achievements in engineering and built structures that still stand today, made mistakes and had to deal with a little trial and error. A recent discovery of two ancient wells in England is a testament to that fact. The first well collapsed; the second was built with reinforced walls to keep it from suffering the same fate.

The wells were discovered by archaeologists while excavating a known Iron Age settlement that was established some 350 B.C., a significant amount of time before the Roman conquest. Once the Romans took over in 43 A.D., the quiet farmstead gave way to industrial development. The group discovered archaeological evidence of carpentry and metalworking within a sizable gated enclosure.

Archaeologists discovered two deep wells at the site Photo: MOLA
Archaeologists discovered two deep wells at the site Photo: MOLA

The new activities required water, so the Romano-Britons set to digging a new well. The first well was constructed just outside the enclosure. At 8.5 meters deep (28 feet), this well was as deep as the average modern two-storey house is high. They built a square timber well but it collapsed before it was ever in use. The wooden ladder was left inside and the well abandoned.



📣 Our WhatsApp channel is now LIVE! Stay up-to-date with the latest news and updates, just click here to follow us on WhatsApp and never miss a thing!!



Project manager Simon Markus of the Museum of London Archaeology (MOLA) team explained that despite considerable Roman engineering and human endeavour, not everything went as planned.

“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.

The second time, they only dug a well that was 21 feet deep, and they lined it with flat wooden planks. To filter the water taken from the dense clay soil, it also had stones at the base. It was eventually abandoned as well. It has wood chips, offcuts, and sawn branches, all of which are signs that carpenters were using the old well as a dump. The volumes of waste wood that have been discarded here attest to the existence of a sizable industry.

A second well was lined with wooden boards to support the structure and stop it caving in. Photo: MOLA
A second well was lined with wooden boards to support the structure and stop it caving in. Photo: MOLA

The contents of the well, including some decorative wood, will now be studied by specialists.

Evidence discovered by the archaeologists points to the workshop’s involvement in a larger trading network. The team has located a possible Roman road that would have connected the site to important Roman routes and supplied major settlements like Godmanchester, specifically to the extreme south of the site.

MOLA

Cover Image: The site of the newly uncovered wooden-boarded Roman well. Photo: MOLA

Related Articles

Romania’s 1.95 Million-Year-Old Hominin Evidence Pushes Back the Timeline of Human Presence in Europe

25 January 2025

25 January 2025

A recent study revealed evidence of “hominin activity” in Romania that dates back at least 1.95 million years, making it...

Cyprus’ Lost Terracotta Warriors: Unearthing a 2,500-Year-Old Army at Agia Eirini

23 May 2025

23 May 2025

Hidden beneath the sands of time in the tranquil Morphou Bay lies Agia Eirini (Turkish: Akdeniz), a seemingly quiet village...

Celtic Traditions Endured Long After Roman Conquest: Archaeological Research in Saarland Reveals a Hybrid Past

20 September 2025

20 September 2025

Excavations in Oberlöstern uncover burial mounds, villas, and monuments that blend Celtic and Roman traditions—tracing the roots of European identity....

A center on the Anatolian Mesopotamian trade route; Tavsanli Mound

24 October 2021

24 October 2021

Excavations at Tavşanlı mound, which is known to be the first settlement in Western Anatolia during the Bronze Age, continue....

Rare Piece Of Metal Armor Found At 17th-Century Fort In Maryland

1 March 2024

1 March 2024

A piece of body armor was unearthed during excavations at a 17th-century colonial fort in Maryland, a Mid-Atlantic state of...

8000-year-old unique “fish-figure” small home tool found in Turkey

20 October 2021

20 October 2021

During this year’s excavations in the Yeşilova and Yassıtepe mounds in İzmir, a unique “fish-figure” small home tool was found....

Chinese Paleontologists discovered a 170-million-year-old flower

29 March 2023

29 March 2023

Chinese paleontologists discovered fossils of an ancient plant dating back approximately 170 million years. The Chinese Academy of Sciences Nanjing...

Archaeologists Reveal Earliest Suburbs of Glasgow Beneath Gallowgate

4 October 2025

4 October 2025

Archaeologists in Glasgow, Scotland, have uncovered rare traces of the city’s earliest medieval suburbs during excavations in the Gallowgate district,...

A rare 2500-year-old saw, the first of its kind, discovered in Anatolia

28 November 2023

28 November 2023

Archaeologists conducting excavations in Çorum, the capital of the Ancient Hittite Empire in northern Turkey, discovered a 2,250-year-old saw. Recent...

DNA Analysis Reveals Identifies the Genetic Makeup of Piceni the Most Fascinating Civilizations of Pre-Roman Italy

24 November 2024

24 November 2024

A study conducted by an international team coordinated by Sapienza University of Rome and the Italian National Research Council (CNR)...

Well-Preserved Wooden Houses Over 2,000 Years Old Discovered in Zhejiang, China

15 March 2025

15 March 2025

In a remarkable archaeological find, researchers in Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province, China, have uncovered exceptionally well-preserved wooden houses dating back over...

Earliest evidence of forest management discovered at the La Draga Neolithic site in Spain

19 July 2023

19 July 2023

Archaeologists have discovered the earliest evidence of forest management at the La Draga Neolithic site in northeastern Spain. A scientific...

One of its kind, 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor restored

19 June 2024

19 June 2024

The 1,500-year-old Roman ‘Lorica Squamata’ legion armor, the only known example in the world, found in the ancient city of...

300 Year Old “Exceptional” Prosthesis made of Gold and Copper and wool Discovered in Poland

14 April 2024

14 April 2024

Something novel has been discovered by Polish archaeologists working on the excavation of the Church of St. Francis of Assisi...

2600-year-old Med period artifacts found in Oluz Höyük, in Turkey

17 October 2022

17 October 2022

During the Oluz Höyük excavations in Amasya, artifacts dating back to the Med Kingdom period were found, dating back to...