This is Surrey --BUILDING a new fence to maintain the divide with your next-door neighbour's garden can be a touchy subject.
But when two do-it-yourself Dorking fathers joined forces to construct a new boundary on Saturday, they were united by a slice of history.
Tim Loder and Christian Lawson, of Horsham Road, were digging a hole for a new fence post when they struck a concrete slab.
The pair then removed the slab which, they say, revealed a 6ft deep Victorian well.
Mr Loder, 39, whose cottage was built in 1865, said: "It was a complete surprise.
"My eight-year-old son Angus was here on the day and he couldn't believe it.
"He was shocked and wanted to climb into it but we said no because it was too deep.
"Our wives were shocked too and couldn't believe what we found.
"We've both been here for five years but we had no idea this was here."
Mr Loder, who lives with wife Ann, Angus, and 10-year-old daughter Olivia, said they now need to fill the well to finish off the new fence.
But he added if the well was in the middle of one of their gardens, they would have tapped into the water supply to soak their vegetables.
"It would have been a free water service that we could have used for the garden," he said.
After looking online, Mr Loder said other people who have discovered wells had benefited from free drinking water and had also avoided hosepipe bans.
But Dorking Local History Group's Kathy Atherton warned the two husbands to avoid drinking the water.
The Mid Holmwood historian said: "My own garden has a well between my house and my next-door neighbours. When we discovered it, it was full of rats. I wouldn't go testing it."
She added: "It isn't rare to find these wells, they're all over the place.
"It was quite common if there was no running water nearby." Reported by This is 4 hours ago.