Water pump in garden?

[Athers1971]

I've just been browsing some old 1891 OS maps, as you do, and noticed a "dot" and what I believe is a letter "P" in our rear garden; if it is a "P" then I understand this refers to "Pump".

No visual evidence of a pump now, but wondered if anyone else had a (working) pump on their property? What does/did it connect into? Would it be worthwhile exploring?

Does it mean that there would have been a well previously?

The reason I was browsing the maps was for any evidence of a well, as next door but one came across a well in their rear garden when they were renovating.

 

[a twig]

Between neighbours and ourselves we have three - one working. All are just a deep square hole, either capped with a large concrete slab or with a hand pump mounted to them.

That said I believe P refers to Post or Post Office (depending on scale) as Pump on OS is usually Pp?

 

[a twig]

Ha - good old OS, just checked and according to Richard Oliver's book Ordnance Survey maps: a concise guide for historians. 3rd edition (London : Charles Close Society, 2013) depending on scale or age P can mean:

Paling, Passage, Pavement, Pillar, Plug, Pool, Pump, Pole, Post, Passenger or Post Office

 

[Athers1971]

Ha - good old OS, just checked and according to Richard Oliver's book Ordnance Survey maps: a concise guide for historians. 3rd edition (London : Charles Close Society, 2013) depending on scale or age P can mean:

Paling, Passage, Pavement, Pillar, Plug, Pool, Pump, Pole, Post, Passenger or Post Office

Yeah, I found this in the symbols which with the dot and P made me think it is/was a pump.

If the dot is accurate, its under some old decking or a concrete slab, or possibly under this limestone.

 

[CliffordPope]

No visual evidence of a pump now, but wondered if anyone else had a (working) pump on their property? What does/did it connect into? Would it be worthwhile exploring?

We have an electric pump. It pumps water automatically from a well, which provides our water supply. There would presumably originally have been a hand pump, but there is no trace now.
I spent part of my childhood in a house that had its water pump in the kitchen by the back door - operated by a long handle. This was later replaced by electric.

 

[worms]

Old maps of my house have the same symbol. We knew there was a well here, but not sure exactly where until it revealed itself! A prolonged period of heavy rain brought the water table to the surface and the subsequent drop caused a small hole to appear. Further investigation showed a properly built, round well of dressed stone, about 1.5m across and at least 7m deep, filled with loose rubble.

 

[Athers1971]

Old maps of my house have the same symbol. We knew there was a well here, but not sure exactly where until it revealed itself! A prolonged period of heavy rain brought the water table to the surface and the subsequent drop caused a small hole to appear. Further investigation showed a properly built, round well of dressed stone, about 1.5m across and at least 7m deep, filled with loose rubble.

What did you do with it? Cover it up or dig it out and use it?

 

[worms]

I'm afraid that all I've done is add the well to the very long "future projects" list! We all have one of these don't we?

At the time, I took as much of the rubble out as I could (it is all large stuff from when the previous owners demolished an old stone garage), put a measuring tape down it to gauge the depth, then filled it back in. It turns out that the previous owners only found it when they were tidying up the yard after completing the new garage. With the well being right in front of the garage doors, it was too late for them to turn the garage through 90 degrees and make a feature of the well.

My thoughts are to get hold of a suitable concrete man-hole ring and lid that would fit round the outside of the stone circle of the well, then empty it of rubble and install a pipe and pump to a more suitable spot. Ironically, the "suitable spot" is exactly where the map symbol shows the pump, rather than where the well actually is!

 

[Athers1971]

I'm afraid that all I've done is add the well to the very long "future projects" list! We all have one of these don't we?

At the time, I took as much of the rubble out as I could (it is all large stuff from when the previous owners demolished an old stone garage), put a measuring tape down it to gauge the depth, then filled it back in. It turns out that the previous owners only found it when they were tidying up the yard after completing the new garage. With the well being right in front of the garage doors, it was too late for them to turn the garage through 90 degrees and make a feature of the well.

My thoughts are to get hold of a suitable concrete man-hole ring and lid that would fit round the outside of the stone circle of the well, then empty it of rubble and install a pipe and pump to a more suitable spot. Ironically, the "suitable spot" is exactly where the map symbol shows the pump, rather than where the well actually is!

View attachment 11484

Interesting. Yes, that long, never ending list of projects. I was going to ask about the accuracy of the location of the ‘dot’ - is that anywhere near where the well is? What’s the distance between the well and the pump location?

 

[worms]

I guess it is actually not too far off, perhaps 2m. The old map doesn't quite conform to the other boundaries as they now are on the ground, so it is difficult to be sure. The georeferencing of the map overlay and aerial view available here are also slightly out, with the walls of house a couple of metres adrift of the aerial view.

The map would probably have the P just the other side of the low wall, whereas the well is below the broken slabs in the foreground in this picture - which also shows why having an unsupported 6m deep hole at this spot might not be ideal!

 

[Kearn]

Maps aren’t too trustworthy…! No signs on any maps regarding our Barton, yet there is a lovely old wooden and lead hand pump and a carved stone trough, presumably sat on top of an earlier well… it’s in a standard location, close to the rear of the house but immediately next to the brewhouse. Certainly on the latter half of the long list here!

 

[worms]

I knew that there had been a similar thread to this "recently"...turns out it was 11 years ago!

 

[worms]

Oh, and I see it is now 15 years since the well went onto my list! https://www.periodproperty.co.uk/forum/threads/help-me-find-my-well.10801/page-3

 

[Flyfisher]

This might be a helpful resource: https://www.bgs.ac.uk/information-hub/borehole-records/

I used it to discover that we had a borehole until the house was connected to mains water in 1930.

 

[Athers1971]

Thanks. Nothing in the borehole records. We’ll be digging up the area where the ‘p’ is indicated on the map next year probably. What’s the usual distance from a pump to a well or borehole? Would the well be directly below the pump? Or do we think the fact that it’s a Pump rather than a well on the map the water was being drawn from elsewhere?

 

[Cubist]

Usually the pump would be situated directly beside or over the water source to avoid bends, kinks and potential traps for the feed tube. In the dim and distant the tube would have been made from an oiled canvas or leather and therefore easily pinched or holed.

 

[Kearn]

Thanks. Nothing in the borehole records. We’ll be digging up the area where the ‘p’ is indicated on the map next year probably. What’s the usual distance from a pump to a well or borehole? Would the well be directly below the pump? Or do we think the fact that it’s a Pump rather than a well on the map the water was being drawn from elsewhere?

Ours was directly over the well, an upgrade to the bucket, if you will…