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faylon

I'm stumped? I found a pit in my back yard

faylon
15 years ago

I have a house that was built in the 1950Âs. I know that the previous owners were big gardeners. This last week I was walking in the back yard and a low spot in the yard started to give way. Yesterday, I grabbed the shovel and now have opened a hole into a pit that had been covered with approximately 5/8" thick wood. This pit is deep enough having 3" the handle of a shovel sticking out when putting the shovel into the pit. On top of the dirt that fell in to pit when the roof collapsed. Without fully opening the pit it appears to be about 4 feet by 4 feet by about 5 feet deep. Other than the wood on the top with about 3" soil on top there is a rectangle just below the wood on the south side of the pit, and on the west side of the pit is a 3" clay tile on top of a brick. I donÂt know what rectangle is made of. I stuck the digital camera through the hole into the pit and took pictures. All I see smooth walls that are clay dirt without any reinforcement. Does anyone have an idea what this might be? I am thinking it might be a hatch cellar, or possibly a dry well but everything is wet. We had a snow fall and it is cold out right now. Not to mention that I have a 7000 lb camper parked right next to the pit, otherwise I would be doing more digging and investigation.

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