Homes with wells: from a very reliable source All that was a few years ago and the four children have grown up: indeed, Wesley's three-year-old son, Henry, is himself making wishes by the well. The five-bedroom property, which also comes with large gardens and tennis court , is for sale for £1.35 million with Knight Frank (01442 861610). That the former pub, which last served a pint in 1900, possessed a well isn't unusual. Before the installation of water pipes, every village had a well or a pump; they were often meeting places and they figure largely in nursery rhymes. Some reach 100ft or more into the bowels of the Earth. Several cottages near my home, in a section of Essex greenbelt, still use well water and none has ever run dry: handy when hosepipe bans are imposed. Despite heavy rain in the past few weeks, and the prediction of more to come, Britain still faces a critical shortage of groundwater. So happy the family that has a deep well or space to dig one. Home owners are allowed to take up to 4,400 gallons of groundwater a day without a licence, vastly more than the average family would use, although it would need to be tested and purified if used for drinking and cooking as well as watering the garden. In times gone by, wells were built by constructing the brickwork at surface level and digging the earth out from beneath, so the whole structure could be gradually lowered to the water table and below. That is what John and Lyn Mercy did at the Kentish triple-kiln oast house they bought as a derelict building in 1965 in search of "the good life." But the good life nearly turned into a nightmare. They set about converting the vast empty space into a home, begging, borrowing and "rescuing" ancient building materials for both the house and the garden. In 1986, disaster struck when John suffered a near-fatal stroke, paralysing his left side. It took him remarkable willpower just to learn to walk again; sadly, as he was left-handed, it meant an end to his career as a dentist. With difficulty, however, he relearned to wheel a barrow. Finances became tight but the couple devoted all their energy to making a magical garden that delights visitors young and old when it is opened every year. After a prolonged drought and hosepipe ban in the 1980s, they set about water-divining and, in the same way that old well diggers dropped their brickwork, used concrete drainpipes, about 4ft in diameter, digging them to the Wealden clay 14ft below the surface. A submersible pump was added, and the problem of water shortage was solved. These days, their property, Whitehurst, near Marden, includes a treetop walkway approached by a wrought-iron staircase, a child-size summerhouse, water gardens, henhouses and grass-roofed sheds, and 1.5 acres of garden. It is for sale for £995,000 with Strutt and Parker (01732 459900), although John and Lyn are not in a rush to sell: they want to open the gardens a final time this year before taking on a new project. For those hankering after a home well, the village well in Dummer, five miles from Basingstoke, is in the garden of Well House, on sale for £580,000 with Knight Frank (01256 350600). The well itself is owned and maintained by the local authority; the Grade II, 17th-century thatched cottage has three bedrooms and sits on a quarter of an acre . On a far grander scale is Saling Hall, in Great Saling, Essex. An Elizabethan mansion, it sits in 12 acres of woodland and water gardens and has stables, cellars and all the necessities of grand living. There are also two front doors; at one point in the late 18th century, the mansion was owned by two sisters, each of whom was married to a naval officer. The property has been owned for 40 years by the wine writer, Hugh Johnson. It has a well, 35ft deep in a gravel seam, the water from which is pumped into a pressure tank next to the stable cottage, occupied by the gardener. The estate is for sale for £2.4 million with Savills (01245 293233). Anyone buying a home with an existing well, or who plans to dig one, should seek advice from the Well Drillers" Association (welldrillers.org). For sale Sanctuary: Well House, in Dummer, Hampshire, has many period features; the well in the garden is owned and cared for by the local authority. For sale for £580,000 with Knight Frank (01256 350600; knightfrank.co.uk). Hugh's haven: The wine writer Hugh Johnson is selling Saling Hall, his Elizabethan manor house in Great Saling, Essex. Tt has seven bedrooms, six reception rooms, a separate cottage, and well on 12 acres. On sale for £2.4 million with Savills (01245 293233; savills.co.uk