A grandad has spent the last decade digging out a 17ft deep medieval well in his living room after noticing a slight dip in the floor when redecorating - and has even tried some water from it.
Colin Steer, from Plymouth, believes that the well could date back to medieval times after discovering an old sword while digging out the well and plans of the site suggests that the well could date back to the 1500s.
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The 70-year-old said: "I found what seemed to be a leather casing of a sword when I was about 5ft into the dig which leads me to believe that the well could be medieval.
"However it could date back to even earlier than that because we have no real way of accurately dating it at the moment."
After noticing the bump on his floor, Colin says that his first thought was that someone had buried a dead body under their floor because they didn't live in a mining district.
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He added: "The house was built around 1895 and we moved in in 1988. Around ten years ago we were doing some decorating and I was replacing floor joists when I noticed the floor dipped near the bay window in our front room.
"I immediately thought someone must have buried someone under there or that we had a sinkhole.
"Since that moment, I decided I was going to dig it out and see what I would find."
He went on to add: "The hole is currently 17ft deep and there is about another four or five-foot that I want to dig out when I eventually get round to it.
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"At the bottom of the well the is about 4ft of water, so everything that I did out now will be wet and mucky stuff.
"I don't think my wife, Vanessa, would be too keen if I got that all over our front room. Although she does find the whole thing very interesting too."
Colin had even shared some of his finds during the dig: "Since I began digging out the well I have found a coin from 1725.
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"But that could mean a number of things as it could have been dropped down there at any time. It doesn't necessarily mean that's when the well was constructed."
The 17ft hole in the couple's living room is currently covered over by a sheet of Perspex and a trap door so that it is safe.
Colin and Vanessa have grandchildren who love to look down the hole through the sheet of Perspex and they are very intrigued by the unique feature in their grandparent's home.
Colin says that he is glad that he discovered the well as it is a good talking point and he has even been know as 'the man with the well' in his local area.
He said: "It is a good thing to show off to people as it is not something that you see every day. I have actually even tried some of the water that is at the bottom of the well.
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"It was really clear and tasted fine to me. I am going to get it tested for bacteria and if everything came back good then I could even bottle it up and sell it."
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