Spotlight Tour: Is There Still Water In That Well? The Restoration of the 18th & 19th Century Well and Wood Well Pump at the Cliveden Kitchen Dependency

Part of the Transcending Thresholds initiative to study, restore and interpret the service spaces at Cliveden, this innovative project will conserve and restore the early well to function. Cliveden Preservation Director Libbie Hawes and architectural conservator Andy Palewski will discuss the construction and technology that provided necessary water for the kitchen and household in the 18th and 19th centuries. The project included removing three sections of wood well pump, restoring the 40-foot-deep stone well shaft and removing the objects and mud at the bottom. The effort now focuses on restoring the pump sections and forged hardware, including recreating the technology that brings groundwater to the surface for human use. This program will include a behind-the-scenes tour of the kitchen and well and a look at the pump parts being restored, come prepared to walk around the site.

General admission is $20; $10 for 19119 and 19144 residents. Tickets can be purchased in advance or on the day of at the Cliveden Barn.

The Well Restoration Project is supported by a Keystone Construction Grant from the Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission. Transcending Thresholds has been supported by The Pew Center for Arts & Heritage.