A grandfather who spent the last decade digging out a 17ft-deep medieval well in his living room floor has found a coin from 1725.

Colin Steer, 70, discovered the well after he noticed a dip in the floor of the living room in his Victorian home in Plymouth, Devon, while redecorating 34 years ago.

At the time he had three small children running around so his wife Vanessa asked him to cover it back up, but when he retired in 2012 he took it on as a project and started digging.

Mr Steer discovered a sword five feet below the soil, leading him to believe it could date back to medieval times, and he said site plans suggest record of the well in the 1500s.

He recently found a coin from 1725 and hopes to eventually extend the walls of the well up into his living room to create a feature coffee table.

'I think it would be a great feature for our front room,' he said. 'We still aren't really sure about why the well is there.

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.'

He said there is 4ft of water at the bottom of the well currently 'so everything that I dig out now will be wet and mucky stuff'.

The 17ft hole in the couple's living room is currently covered over by a sheet of Perspex and a trap door.

The couple's grandchildren love to look down the hole through the sheet of Perspex and Mr Steer said it was a great talking point with his neighbours.

He added: '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. It was really clear and tasted fine to me.

Erik adds:

To read the complete article, see:
Grandfather, 70, who discovered 17ft medieval WELL under his living room finds 1725 coin that was tossed in... but did the 300-year-old wish come true?(https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9732709/Grandfather-70-discovered-17ft-medieval-living-room-finds-1725-coin.html)