Pump

CLIPSTON

462/0/10004 KELMARSH ROAD 20-JUN-07 Pump

II Water pump; late C19. It has a lead and wrought iron spout and wrought iron handle, and is enclosed within wooden casing. At the top of the casing, above the spout is a metal sign which reads 'Brixworth Rural district Council. Water from this source must be boiled before being used for domestic purposes. C.T. Darwent Medical Officer of Health'.

HISTORY. Pumps appeared in towns and villages in increasing numbers throughout the C18 and C19, and remained a source of water for domestic use into the C20. The 1886 OS map of Clipston identifies at least 16 pumps, most of which were evidently in private ownership, although several are located by the side of the road. There is no pump shown on Kelmarsh Road, but there is a well where the pump is now, and it does appear on the 1900 OS map.

SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE. Complete examples of pumps from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries may be eligible for designation, when they survive in reasonable condition. The pump on Kelmarsh Road is a rare example of a complete C19 water pump. It is an important part of the village scene, an illustration of the social history of England, and of how domestic life was managed before the availability of piped water: it meets the criteria for listing.

SOURCES. A Potted History of Village Pumps Website: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/pumps/history.htm