CHARLESTON — Watch your step at Drayton Hall, where archaeologists are re-excavating a 17th-century well and unearthing historical odds and ends.

Keep your head up, too, at the house, where curators are also removing and restoring a deteriorating plaster ceiling that threatens to collapse.

The parallel projects in West Ashley, both taking place in full view of visitors, promise to reveal plenty more information about the historic landmark on the Ashley River. The old well is already yielding objects that provide clues about European settlers’ activity on the site during Colonial days, before the Drayton family began building their homestead around 1738.

Meanwhile the imminent removal of the ceiling in the Grand Hall is expected to expose some of the original construction techniques of t

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