Survey Data
Reg No
15400814
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Water pump
Date
1870 - 1900
Coordinates
252173, 266686
Date Recorded
12/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1885, comprising banded cylindrical shaft with fluted head having fluted spout, ‘cow tail’ curvilinear handle, and fluted ogee-dome cap with finial. Associated granite water trough, on rectilinear plan, to front (northwest). Located on a traffic island at the former Market Square, Collinstown.
Appraisal
A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design that is encountered throughout rural Westmeath. Water pumps played an important social role in the late nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by providing a communal water source before the development of mains water supply. Frequently, as in this case, water pumps were located at or near road junctions. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the former Market Square, Collinstown.