Water pump

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

A disused roadside cow-tailed water pump probably erected by Ballycastle Rural District Council c.1915 to serve adjacent houses.

The pump is located outside one of six semi-detached single-storey houses on the W side of the main road between Cushendall and Cushendun.

It is mounted on a square concrete plinth over a concrete-capped well (which is apparently fed from a nearby spring).

It is of cast-iron construction with a spiral-fluted column, vertically-fluted bulbous top, and cap with fluted rim and acorn finial. There is a wrought-iron cow-tail pump at one side, and a quarter-turn spout (lug for a bucket handle) to front. Although now disused, its internal mechanism appears to be intact. It is enclosed to W and N by a low rendered concrete block wall.

Materials:
Pump body Cast-iron
Cow-tail Wrought iron

Setting:
The pump is on the roadside at the entrance to no.5 Tavnaghan Terrace. This is one of six semi-detached houses in its vicinity, all of which are 1990s replacements of the three original houses which it served. The rural situation of these and the previous houses is underscored by the fields on the opposite side of the road.

Historical information

This pump served three agricultural labourers' houses which were erected in 1913 by Ballycastle Rural District Council under the Labourers' Acts 1883-1911. This legislation empowered local authorities to purchase land and build houses for agricultural workers thereon. The contract for these particular houses was awarded by the Council to Hugh Taggart of Capecastle in April 1913. It comprised two houses at £133 each and a third at £145, all to be finished by May 1914.
The houses are first cited in the 1915 Valuation revision book and the 1921 OS map. They were replaced with the present six pairs of semi-detached houses in the 1990s.

The pump was almost certainly erected at the same time to serve the original houses. That it is not depicted on the 1921 or 1973 OS maps is probably because it was too small a feature to be mapped. According to a local long-time resident, it was never a great success, people preferring to use a nearby well. Another resident stated that the cap presently on the pump is a replacement of the original.

References - Primary Sources:
1. PRONI LA/11/12EA/1. Ballycastle Rural District Council Labourers' houses - receipts and expenditure accounts (1912-14).
2. PRONI OS/10/1/20/1/2. OS 1:2500 map, Co Antrim sheet 20-01 (1921).
3. VAL/12/B/2/7F. Valuation Revision Books, 1909-23, p.143.
4. PRONI OS/11/24/8/1. OS 1:2500 map, Irish Grid sheet 24-08 (1973).

References - Secondary Sources:
1. Information from owners of nos 3, 4 and 5 Tavnaghan Terrace.

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

A. Style
B. Proportion
C. Ornamentation
J. Setting

Criteria for listing: historic interest

R. Age
X. Local Interest
Z. Rarity
S. Authenticity
Y. Social, Cultural or Economic Importance
T. Historic Importance

Evaluation

A typical cow-tail manually-operated water pump, located outside one of six semi-detached single-storey houses on the W side of the main road between Cushendall and Cushendun. Although of utilitarian function, it nevertheless has a considerable proportion of its surface embellished with decorative fluting remaining. The diagonal fluting around the column is said to mimic the sackcloth insulation wrapped around it in winter to ward off freezing. Its relationship with the well, from which it drew water, is clearly evident, whilst its intact mechanism also enables its operation to be deciphered. Although the adjoining houses are replacement dwellings, their setting explains why the pump was erected where it was. Except for its possible replacement cap, this pump is as originally erected. It is of local significance, having served the local community for many years prior to the advent of mains water to rural houses. Roadside pumps such as this example were once relatively common but are now quite rare, particularly in Moyle.