Survey Data
Reg No
15403132
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Water pump
In Use As
Water pump
Date
1870 - 1900
Coordinates
228931, 240316
Date Recorded
17/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1885, comprising cylindrical shaft with a spout located half way along elongated shaft (rather than at head) with a fluted headed over having a fluted ogee-dome cap with finial. Elongated cast-iron handle to side. Located adjacent to Donore Crossroads to the northeast of Horseleap.
Appraisal
An unusual late nineteenth-century water pump, having a curious elongated and possibly unique design, which differs from the two main standard designs encountered in rural Westmeath. This particular example may have been made using elements from the standard 'cow tail' handle water pumps. Water pumps played an important social role in the nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries by providing a communal water source before the development of mains water supply. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the rural landscape. This pump is located adjacent to a rural crossroad junction, a common site for artefacts of this type.