IT once fuelled and cooled buses on their way to and from Denby Dale.
But the well at The Flying Ferret pub, Shelley, lay buried for decades.
That is until earlier this month when the pub’s new landlord, Chris Barrow, uncovered the 7.5metre shaft in his car park.
A friend of Mr Barrow had been researching the pub’s history and discovered the property once had a well.
It is thought the well, which was hidden under a large slab, is over 100 years old.
The well, it is believed, was used to fuel steam buses in the early 1900s on their way to Denby Dale from Huddersfield.
The top first metre of the well, which is made from bricks, is still intact.
The bottom 6.5m is bored into the bedrock where water from the water table seeps into the well.
Now Mr Barrow, who has been landlord of the pub – formerly The Oddfellows – since October, hopes to restore the well and make it a feature of The Flying Ferret by the end of the month.
Chris said: “While we were renovating the car park we thought we’d have a look around.
“At the bottom of the car park was a large natural stone slab weighing about 1.5 tonnes. We lifted it and there the well was.
“You can see the water coming in from the sides of the rock. We’ll have the water tested and if it’s okay for drinking we’ll use it for that.
“It’s fantastic to return some of the village’s history for people to have a look at.
“We hope to add a grate and a bucket and have an opening ceremony when it’s ready.”
The well at The Flying Ferret is the third to be found by Examiner readers this spring.
Workmen carrying out an extension at Colne Valley Museum, Golcar, stumbled upon a well, which is thought to date back to the 1600s and 1700s.
The well lies beneath the floor of a vacant chip shop into which the museum plans to expand.
Meanwhile Gary Wooler found a 40ft well complete with running water while landscaping the garden of his Shepley home.
