Any thoughts on what this is?

Apodemus

bakepot said:

JohnB47 said:

Looks like it was fairly square before you started chipping at it. So it wasn't covered up with a slab? In that case, perhaps it was a base for something like a big birdbath or statue or garden ornament that was still there when the slabs were laid around it. Then maybe the previous owner just lifted the top bit and took it with them.

Any photos of the area in the sale documents? Would neighbours remember if something was there?

No it wasn't covered with a slab. There were slabs on all side of it and this square looked like it filled with cement/concrete which was crumbling. Now it appears this lump of concrete must have been preventing a slab being put down so they just topped it with cement I think. 

Unfortunately (like nearly everything else in a property from the 1970s!) the real answer is probably quite mundane....   

Perhaps there was a rotary clothes drier in the centre of the patio, with slabs laid around it and the base concreted in.  Someone then wanted to remove it, but the drier shaft was rusted solid, so the concrete base came out of the hole when the drier was removed.  In order to tidy it all up, the space was filled with a bag of ready-mix and levelled out to match the adjacent square of slabs....

grandadgolfer

Apodemus said:

bakepot said:

JohnB47 said:

Looks like it was fairly square before you started chipping at it. So it wasn't covered up with a slab? In that case, perhaps it was a base for something like a big birdbath or statue or garden ornament that was still there when the slabs were laid around it. Then maybe the previous owner just lifted the top bit and took it with them.

Any photos of the area in the sale documents? Would neighbours remember if something was there?

No it wasn't covered with a slab. There were slabs on all side of it and this square looked like it filled with cement/concrete which was crumbling. Now it appears this lump of concrete must have been preventing a slab being put down so they just topped it with cement I think. 

Unfortunately (like nearly everything else in a property from the 1970s!) the real answer is probably quite mundane....   

Perhaps there was a rotary clothes drier in the centre of the patio, with slabs laid around it and the base concreted in.  Someone then wanted to remove it, but the drier shaft was rusted solid, so the concrete base came out of the hole when the drier was removed.  In order to tidy it all up, the space was filled with a bag of ready-mix and levelled out to match the adjacent square of slabs....

I doubt anybody would remove a rusted rotary drier with concrete base and then fill the said hole with concrete

anotheruser

But remember to update us!
We're all curious now.

Eldi_Dos

bakepot said:

Eldi_Dos said:

Or capped a well or plugged a spring.

How old is the property?

Not particularly old. 1970s i think. 

I would just get someone with a stihl saw to lop off the top 100/150 mm and cover with soil then make lawn, you will probably notice grass will grow different above it.

If you are curious about what could have been there, your local library might have old maps that might show something.

bakepot

Well having dug it out a bit more it looks like there is brick work going down at least a couple of feet on at least two sides. I'm thinking it looks like someone has topped off an old drain with a lot of concrete. Which is pretty annoying. 

bakepot

there seems to be polythene sheeting going under the concrete as well

stuart45

Are you sure it's an out of use drain? The poly might be there to keep the concrete out of the chamber.

Slinky

I'm suspecting a capped well. Did somebody put down the plastic sheeting, weigh it down with something and put wet concrete on top of it to make a cap, to save filling in all of the well.

Our builders unearthed a filled in well in our back garden when digging our new footings. It was full of any old stuff dug up on the rest of the site.

greenface2

could it have been an outside loo 

noitsnotme

Are the bricks cemented or just stacked? We have similar in our 1970s house and it’s a soak away fed by a drain pipe from a flat roof gutter.

Do you have any down pipes from the guttering that are in line with it?  There could be a horizontal pipe underground feeding it.