Survey Data
Reg No
15403332
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Social, Technical
Original Use
Water pump
Date
1870 - 1900
Coordinates
245583, 243719
Date Recorded
20/10/2004
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected c.1875, comprising banded cylindrical shaft with fluted head having fluted spout, ‘cow tail’ curvilinear handle, and fluted ogee-dome cap with finial. Set back from road surrounded by a rubble limestone wall, open to road. Located to the north of Rochfortbridge along main road to Mullingar Town.
Appraisal
A typical late nineteenth-century water pump, of a standard design 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. This cast-iron pump now serves as an attractive piece of street furniture, aesthetically enhancing the rural landscape to the north of Rochfortbridge.