Pump opposite 41 Cennick Road

The Department's description

Exterior description and setting

Cow tailed cast iron water pump with spirally incised column, lugged spout and decorated cap. It is set in a 1200mm high random rubble basalt rectangular alcove with a cast insitu concrete capping. The pump is surrounded by stone cobbles and is set at a lower level than the adjacent road.

Historical information

There are no pumps indicated on the historic maps of Gracehill, although the third edition was not available.

The plaque on the walling reads:

'PRESENTED BY THE
NORTHERN IRELAND TOURIST BOARD
TO GRACEHILL
SMALL VILLAGE CATEGORY WINNER
[progressive ulster in bloom (?) (not legible)]
SPONSORED BY PROGRESSIVE BUILDING SOCIETY'

A local source indicates that it the pump is not original but was placed on Cennick Road in the mid-1970s as part of an Environmental Improvement scheme and that the original community pump was elsewhere, at the north end of the road. This has not been verified from other sources.

Primary Sources
1. OS Map 1832-3, Co Antrim 37.
1. OS Map 1859, Co Antrim 37.

Secondary sources
1. Local source

Criteria for listing: architectural interest

Not listed

Criteria for listing: historic interest

Not listed

Evaluation

A well preserved cow tailed water pump in a prominent road side location in Gracehill. It is a reminder of the time when drinking water was only available from public sources. However, its provenance is unclear and it has been relocated.