Survey Data
Reg No
40802008
Rating
Regional
Categories of Special Interest
Artistic, Technical
Original Use
Water pump
Date
1905 - 1910
Coordinates
253031, 449210
Date Recorded
16/09/2008
Date Updated
--/--/--
Description
Freestanding cast-iron water pump, erected 1908, comprising cylindrical shaft with horizontal banding, fluted spout, flat cap, and slender curved ‘cow-tail’ handle. Possibly originally with domed fluted cap with finial over, now removed. No longer in use. Set on a stone plinth with a cut stone runoff duct draining into a basin to the north. Pump covered by a slated pyramidal canopy supported on four metal posts. Metal plaque to site reading ‘Presented to the village of Culdaff by Mr and Mrs Young as a memorial of their golden wedding 1908’. Decorative spandrels to sign. Located on village Green to the east end of Culdaff.
Appraisal
This well-maintained cast-iron water pump is one of the better surviving examples of its type in County Donegal. The appearance of this functional mass-produced object is enlivened in its detailing such as the banded shaft, fluted spout and by the delicate 'cow-tail' handle. Water pumps such as this once played an important social and functional role providing a communal water source before the introduction of the mains water supply. It is located in the centre of a village (Culdaff), a common site for such artefacts for obvious reasons. Serving as an important amenity to the nearby houses and as a social gathering point, this piece is of social interest, whilst as a piece of early mass-production cast-iron ware of robust construction and with intricate pump mechanism, it can also be considered of technical interest. This particular example is unusual in that it is dated (1908). An attractive metal plaque with decorative spandrels to site records that this pump was ‘presented to the village of Culdaff by Mr. and Mrs. Young as a memorial of their Golden Wedding 1908’. This is presumably George Robert Young (1834-1912) and his wife (Letitia Staveley) who lived at nearby Culdaff House (see 40802011), the local landlords at the time of erection. The protective canopy and the drainage system may be later additions. This simple item of street furniture makes a strongly positive contribution to the streetscape, and is an interesting historical relic on account of its connections with the Young family and Culdaff House.