When the site was being cleaned up by the Department of Main Roads workers, they stumbled across a relic from previous days – a reinforced cement and brick well.

The well was about three metres deep and the same in diameter. It is believed the well was used as a storage tank by the original owners of the property, with the water from the guttering flowing into it.

When it was discovered, there was about 60 centimetres of water in the bottom of it, which was pumped from the historic well and it was filled in.

As is the case now for residents to conserve water, it was a similar story for Nowra’s early settlers. Especially prior to 1893, when Nowra first received a water supply that was pumped from Cambewarra.

Wells could be found in many locations around the district, both on private property and in public areas.

Alexander Berry was very likely to have been responsible for the district’s earliest wells, one which was constructed in 1831 was five and a half metres in diameter and was used to water his sheep.

The source of the water and its use varied from well to well.

All the roof water from the Jindiandy Dairy Factory was channelled into a large well and used in the operation of the steam engines.

One logical place for a well was in the Nowra Public School grounds on the corner of Berry and Douglas Streets, in the vicinity of Spring Street. As well as providing water to drink, the spring flowed into the Marriott Park lake. 

Wells were sometimes made from timber, while brick and stone was used in the more elaborate ones.

Once they became disused, the wells were often used as rubbish tips. Once such well at Terara had been filled in for about 30 years before it was cleaned out in 1940. It proved to be a stone well, some five and a half metres deep and because it was still a good source of water, it was set to be beneficial for landholder, Mrs Leverton during dry seasons.

In 1908, the importance of wells was mentioned in Nowra Council by Ald. Alf Brodie – also a saddler – who was well aware of the requirements for the town’s 200 horses.

Subsequently, the mayor was empowered to provide two wells to water horses, and one was re-opened on the blacksmith premises at North Street.

A well at the Bridge Hotel was abandoned after it was thought the water could have been contaminated by effluent from the cemetery up the street.