Hello Janice,
The well at the Stein Farm museum in National City was purposely located at
the highest point of the property so that Mr Stein could use gravity to
water his crops through pipes and troughs.
S. Walter
----- Original Message -----
From: "Janice Adamson" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2007 6:24 PM
Subject: Wells


> "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.