Until the Public Health (Water) Act of 1878 it was the responsibility of each parish to provide water to its resident. The invention of the plunger pump (the hand water pump) is attributed to Samuel Morland based on a patient of 1675.
Source: ‘A History of Mechanical Inventions, Abbot Payson Usher, Courier Dover Publications [1988] ISBN 0-486-25593-X-9780486255934
The hand water pump was likely installed at its current position (frontage of the village hall) circa 1895.
‘Lee, Howl, Ward & Howl was established in Tipton, Staffs, in 1880, and from this emerged in 1887 the firm of Lee, Howl & Co. Examples are commonly found all over the country, second only in number to Joseph Evans pumps. There is a persistent rumour that back in the early days Joseph Evans’s chief designer apparently defected to Lee Howl, and from this time onwards some of their pumps bore a striking similarity to those of Joseph Evans. An article in “Old Glory” magazine of March 1994 provided confirmation that Lee Howl pumps carried a flag trademark (to copy the lion would have added insult to injury)’. The Lee Howl water pump is an exemplar of the Victorian hand water pump and has remained on the current site since the 1880’s. The structure and design was a common feature of rural village pumps.
The original lead pipe (above ground from the well up to the pump mechanism) is in situ. The verbal evidence obtained from older villagers indicates that the pump is in its original position and had a hand lever to pump the water; this was lost long ago. The village school Well is situated in front of the pump and was capped many years ago.
The pump has been painted over from its original structure and there is evidence of paint peeling and rust.
Location
Open the location with: Google Maps | Bing Maps | OpenStreetMap