Geology Site Account

Site name: Goldhanger Village Well

Grid reference: TL 90426 08820

Brief description of site:

The Goldhanger village pump is a rare example of a wheel pump. The pump housing has a bronze plaque stating that the well was dug during the hot Summer of 1921 and is 25 metres (70 feet) deep with a further 35 metres (100 feet) of artesian bore. This total depth would take the well and borehole through the mostly-impervious London Clay and Lower London Tertiaries into the water-bearing Chalk.

The pump is a listed building.

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Artesian wells

Many wells in Essex were artesian, which means that water fills the entire well or borehole and overflows at the surface. Due to the shape of the London Basin, water in the permeable Chalk beneath Essex (originally rain water that has fallen on the North Downs and the Chilterns) is confined under pressure beneath the London Clay and when released forms an artesian well.