"Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water..." This children's
nursery rhyme has me wondering if anybody out there might be able to shed
any light on the digging of wells in the 19th century. I'm particularly
interested in health and hygiene concerns and how this might have related to
the positioning, structure and building of wells (e.g. are they usually on
high points on the land, and why would this be so?).  I recall reading
something regarding this some years ago in the Great Britain War Office
records about building wells in military barracks, but didn't think much of
it at the time, and as I'm in New Zealand and those records are in the UK, I
can't revist them!  Any help would be much appreciated.