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A modern information board provides:

The Old Well – A Brief History
In early days, while Tottenham was still a village of less than 3,000 inhabitants, local people got their water supply from a well. Deep underground water supplies were reached using a bucket and a rope. As time went by, water pumps on street corners were introduced – one such pump was the Old Well. It was dug in 1791 and paid for by Thomas Smith, Lord of the Manor of Tottenham, at Bruce Castle. The well was looked after and repaired by the parish council. The Local Board of Health made improvements to the Old Well in 1859 by adding the tiled roof.

The Old Well supplied most of the surrounding district with water until 1883 when the supply was found to be polluted, possibly because of poor surface drainage. The well was then chained up. It has never been used since. The Old Well has remained here unchanged as an interesting piece of old Tottenham.

The well was refurbished by the Rotary Club of Tottenham to mark the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. It was restored again in 2004 by Haringey Council in partnership with English Heritage, Transport for London Street Management and the Heritage of London Trust.