There is no maker’s mark on the pump. It is a similar design as others in Thatcham, with a wide body constructed of three segments of cast iron, and a pump spout section attached above. The pump spout has a bucket lug on top where a bucket could be hung allowing the pump operator to work single handed. It is suggested on the ‘village pumps’ website that the makers were Hedges of Bucklebury, who may have made all the Bath Road pumps in Berkshire.
In October 2014, West Berkshire Council started work on widening the Bath Road (A4) from the Calcot Hotel to Royal Avenue. This meant one of the old pumps, which stood in a layby opposite the Calcot Hotel, was to be removed, and following a request form the Friends of Linear Park, West Berks Council moved the pump to its current location in the sensory garden next to the Beansheaf Community Centre.
In 1826, following a rationalistion of local turnpikes around Reading, the turnpike at Tilehurst came under the control of the Twyford and Theale Turnpike Trust. The Trust employed MacAdam’s company to renew the existing road surface with the new macadamizing process, which built up the surface with decreasing grades of gravel. The road ran well, but drivers and residents complained about dust, so roadside pumps were installed to water the roads and keep dust down. A payment of £718 for the period October 1832 to October 1833, and a written mention of the pumps in records of 1834 suggest the work was done in 1832/33.
This pumps forms part of an important historical record of the coaching period, along what was at the time the most important coaching route – the first ever mail coach went from Newbury in the 1700’s, and the route developed very early, providing a pattern for later routes. It is in good condition, comparable to some which have been nationally listed, and is being well maintained.
Location
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