Water pump, Opposite 93 Moycraig Rd, Dunseverick, Bushmills, Co. Antrim

Water pumps at Dunseverick

Two cast-iron water pumps stand along the south side of Moycraig Road, opposite number 93, in a small cluster of houses and outbuildings at Dunseverick, near Bushmills, County Antrim. Dating from the late 19th century, they are products of the plumbing enterprise of Daniel Christie of Coleraine, whose name is cast into both pumps.

The first pump is situated at the north-east corner of a derelict single-storey house. It features a fluted column with a plain band around its circumference, a spherical top, and a fluted cap crowned with an acorn finial. The handle is of standard cowtail design, and the spout has a lug for hanging a bucket. The inscription around the top reads "Christies Ltd Coleraine". The second pump, located approximately 20 metres south-east of the first, has a plain shaft with two bands, a plain cylindrical top, and a fluted cap. It too has a cowtail handle and lugged spout. The embossed inscription reads "Daniel Christie Coleraine Plumber".

Although both pumps are heavy with historical interest, neither retains a functional internal mechanism. Both caps are now glued down for security purposes. The pumps are no longer in their original positions. Records indicate a pump was shown on Ordnance Survey maps of 1904 and 1921 on the opposite side of the road and at some distance north-east; the current owner believes one pump may have been moved from the north side of the road. Both are preserved for their ornamental rather than functional value.

Daniel Christie is recorded in the 1865 Belfast & Provincial directories as a plumber, gasfitter, and marble and stone worker based on Meeting Street, Coleraine. By 1870 he had relocated to the Diamond, where he remained until at least 1900. The pumps were likely manufactured by a specialist foundry willing to cast Christie's name rather than their own.

These pumps are of interest as evidence of Christie's plumbing enterprise, but their uncertain provenance and displacement from their original locations precludes formal listing.