A couple in Devon, England found something way more (or, arguably, slightly less) valuable than a Kennedy half-dollar while poking around under their living room sofa recently: a 33-ft deep medieval well, filled with old peasant weapons and, most likely, magic and a passageway to times unknown.

The Telegraph reports that Colin Steer had wondered for years what caused the floor under the family's couch to dip. One day, while performing some maintenance work, he dug down about a foot into what appeared to be a steep shaft, filled in with the foundations of the house.

Steer, evidently mistaking a hole for a rainbow, hopefully speculated that he might "find a pot of gold at the bottom" if he dug down deep enough.

Enter: Vanessa, his killjoy wife. She requested that her husband please not dig a hole to Hell in the middle of their living room, lest any of their three young children fall into it.

Luckily, now that the kids are grown, Colin Steer is retired, and Vanessa's pained sighs have become nothing more than white noise, there's nothing to stop him from exploring the unknown through a deep scary portal in his living room.

In fact, Colin's already found a centuries-old sword in the stone-sided hole that, contrary to what Vanessa would have us believe, sounds like a perfectly safe place for toddlers to roam.

"[It] sort of just fell out. It looks like an old peasant's fighting weapon because it appears to be made up of bits of metal all knocked together."

Wells are valuable resources for archaeologists, as, once they are abandoned, they are often treated as refuse dumps. Artifacts discarded down well holes or privy pits "can often be reassembled into nearly complete objects," because they've been left to lie undisturbed for centuries. (Even when "nearly complete," though, they're still just some schmo's trash.)

The land on which Steer's home now stands was woodland until the late 19th century. The watercourse that fed the well was built in the 16th century.

Though he hasn't yet encountered a pot of gold, a changeling, or the beast numbered 666, Colin remains optimistic about the hole's untold treasures.

"I love the well and think it's fascinating. I'd love to find out who was here before us. I've got a piece of Plymouth's history in my front room."

His wife, Vanessa, was less enthusiastic.

"I hate the well."

The photograph says it all.

[Well, Well, Well via The Telegraph // History.org // Still via The Ring]