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A room with a view – A historic discovery made at Clifford Primary School!
January 2010
“Well, well, well - what do we have here?
Former Bishop of Sheffield Jack Nicholls visited one of the city's most historic schools to open a brand new extension - and found it to be a room with a view.
The new reception classroom at Clifford Primary in Nether Edge has been built with a glass panel in the floor revealing an old 50 foot deep well.
The well was discovered when the previous school extension, built in 1850, was demolished to make way for the new development.
"The well was found under a big stone, and it is on the map which shows the school when it was first built in 1832," said headteacher Sue Preston.
"It seems the well then provided the school's water supply, and in the well is an elm tree which has been carved so it serves as a pipe.
" Rather than cover the well up again, it was decided to make it a feature of the new classroom, illuminated by light strings that enable pupils to see all the way to the bottom.
"We lose too much of our old domestic architecture so we decided to keep the well visible. We had to adjust the foundations of the building to make the idea work," Sue said.
During the summer holidays two cave divers even descended into the well to discover what lurked at the bottom, discovering 15 feet of clear water.
"We invited Bishop Jack to open the classroom as he has two grandchildren at the school and comes here to pick them up," Sue added.
"He came along in his old bishop's regalia and talked to the children about the connections between the past and the future."
