Old as a Centrepiece for the New – Wellgate (pictures)

August 1966

South Yorkshire Times August 20, 1966

Old as a Centrepiece for the New

The cistern of the ancient well from which Wellgate, Conisbrough derives its name is to be incorporated in a new development which has been entirely designed in the Urban Council Offices at Conisbrough.

Central Redevelopment

The Council are now accepting tenders for the construction of 105 housing units on the Wellgate site as part of their Central Redevelopment Scheme.

Road baseworks and sewage systems were undertaken by the council’s Public Works Department as a direct contract, and work has been in progress on the site – only two minutes walk from both the central area of Old Conisbrough from Conisbrough Castle – during the last two months.

Now the site is ready for work to begin on 15 blocks and garages which will comprise the 105 units. The seven unit cruciform block which is the basis on the development has been entirely designed in the Council Engineers and Surveyors department, under the leadership of Mr RM Clark, B.Eng., and is believed to be unique.

Three Storeys

It has three stories. On the ground floor are three flats; they will be devoted to housing all people. But there will be four maisonettes, one designed to accommodate six people and 3 to accommodate five. The fourth wing on each floor contains “outhouses,” one for each living unit.

It is the first housing project of its kind in the Conisbrough Urban District and Mr ET Mellor, Clerk to the council said, “by this method of development we bring over 100 families right into the heart of Conisbrough, and yet they are not in the centre of a massive estate.”

Each block will have central heating, and garages are included as an integral part of the development.

The scheme is in two parts, separate tenders been required for each. One tender is required for numbers 1 to 7 Wellgate, comprising 49 living unit (this part of the development will eventually include the garages) and another for numbers 2 to 8, comprising 58 living units.

A Similar Scheme

Mr Mellor told the “South Yorkshire Times”: “When the Wellgate development tenders are settled the Council be requiring tenders for a similar development in Balby Street, Denaby Main, where the base works are at present in progress.”

Tenders will be considered early September, and if all goes well, adds Mr Mellor, work could begin in November.

Among all the ultramodern buildings in Wellgate  will be a reminder of the great age and history of Conisbrough. The plan has had to corporate the cistern of the ancient well from which the site gets its name, as it is listed among structures of architectural and historical interest schedule for preservation under the Town and Country Planning Act.

It is believed that the well and cistern may have been the water supply of an ancient settlement, established long before the castle.

A spokesman for the engineers and surveyors department told the “South Yorkshire time” the structural will stand as a centrepiece in a green open space within the development .

In the early stages, the Council Works Department had to cope with gallons of water which gushed from the old well springs which has never been known to run dry, and had to pipe it away through a land drainage system.

Wellgate

Wellgate Today

Wellgate slider

Wellgate 120 years ago