Anyone ever developed a spring?

[Oblio13]

There are several springs in our woods. Someone dug this one out and lined it with stone long ago:

I tried to do the same thing with another, nearby spring. Collected a pile of stones, borrowed a backhoe, and dug down about five feet. But the sides cave in and I get a wider and wider hole full of quicksand-like mud as fast as I can dig. I can't comprehend how it can be lined with stones. Any experience out there?

 

[swyn]

There is a method used with well diggers in that one builds a circle of stones/brick and then dig underneath this. As the stones sink you build on top and thus repeat the process until you are down to a level where you need to be. Concrete rings are the modern item. I have never done construction in this way as I use shuttering planks and then bricks/flint/blocks as the ground around me is ok to excavate without too much collapse.
I'd be interested to see and read about your results if you decide to use the well diggers method. You may or may not need mortar......No mortar in your picture. Perhaps it was constructed when the ground was dry. These old fashioned things were always dictated to by the seasons. Not to be overlooked!

Swyn

 

[harryhaller]

google "spring protection water sources". There are many interesting articles as this, together with well-digging, is an important issue in poorer countries.