Unexpected triple clay pipe in garden !

[Loz]

Hi,

 

Was digging a trench in garden to help alleviate a drainage issue, got bit carried away and starting digging further away from where water had been collating in recent prolonged rain, we are in heavy clay soil.  Then discovered what turned out to be a triple clay pipe, coming up vertically from ground, as you can see from picture two bigger pipes and a smaller one.  The two big ones are broken at top and filled with soil, the smaller one had mud and stones in - managed to get some out and poke a thin rod down but ran out of rod at about 30cm, anything thicker can't get past mud.

 

Now I wouldn't be overly worried other than two things, there seems to be water collating there - not normally noticed it - garden has always been wet due to clay but is no where else at moment after couple of dry days.  There is no smell to it - reason I mention that is that seems to be directly above the sewer line from next door that runs under my garden, there is a manhole his side that is accessible and a buried one in my garden, these pipes are about 1.5m from neighbors and 2.6 from our buried manhole.   We are on combined water and sewer system as 1950's houses.

 

Any ideas what they could be - never seen three pipes like that - guessing this may end up with a camera from my neighbors side to see if any chamber or any connection below where the pipes were but thought would post in case anyone seen anything like those before:

 

 

Any thought, tips, ideas greatly appreciated,

 

Many thanks,

 

Loz

[Adsibob]

I think that is part of the intergalactic highway from the hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy. 

[Radian]

Those look like clay pipes of a type typically used from the 18th century onwards. Are they about 3" diameter? Normally laid loose, horizontally, to drain across fields. I wonder if there was a particularly persistent wet patch and someone used these vertically to drain down to a deeper stratum? They might have been filled with stone for that purpose.

[Loz]

15 hours ago, Radian said:

Those look like clay pipes of a type typically used from the 18th century onwards. Are they about 3" diameter? Normally laid loose, horizontally, to drain across fields. I wonder if there was a particularly persistent wet patch and someone used these vertically to drain down to a deeper stratum? They might have been filled with stone for that purpose.

Thanks for taking time to reply, sounds more likely than the first response, given there is water in that spot then would add up, what spooked me is directly above the combined sewer pipe, maybe does lead down and trapped as no smell, guess this ends with excavating down or camera along to see if anything joining in at that point.

 

Many thanks,

 

Lawrence

[Radian]

3 minutes ago, Loz said:

sounds more likely than the first response

Probably had one too many Martini's.