šviesduobė

01:19 Nov 5, 2013 

Very possible. Also, perhaps it may have been a decorative basin (for e.g. turtles or water lilies), a drinking/washing fountain, or a (formerly lidded) storage enclosure, either by design or conversion from a basement window well... Basically, this is not yet a question of translation at the present stage of your research.

00:52 Nov 5, 2013 

What it looks like is a brick flower bed. Obviously, it could be the window well / light shaft from a bricked off window that was converted to a flower bed with the bottom concealing the top of the window and the photo concealing the depth of the outside wall.

00:39 Nov 5, 2013 

...in which case we need to know the purpose. Otherwise, it's just random guesswork.

00:35 Nov 5, 2013 

Look, there are no signs of a window. If I were walking by the house in Vilnius, I would think it was a light shaft / window well, but from what has been excavated, I see no signs of any window above or below ground. It is possible that the author did not know what else to call it and so used this name without cause. The picture is taken from over the outer wall, so I cannot say if it goes down to sterile soil or stops at the ground's surface at the time of the manor house. I would post or send a photo, but I cannot through ProZ so only people who write me get the photo.

00:15 Nov 5, 2013 

http://www.mycompletebasement.com/egress-windows.html. Because if it does, then it could be 'a basement window pit/well'. But probably it's not that because you say that 'there are no signs of any opening in the manor wall'. What has it got to do with light, then?

23:59 Nov 4, 2013 

I am sure it is my tiredness, but I am somewhat confused by your description. What you are describing--in my reading--suggests that it is not in fact a "šviesduobė" as it did not serve the function of letting light into anywhere? Is this perhaps a case of misuse of terminology in the source text?