Windsor & Maidenhead

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windsor Roadside pump at Windsor, with the castle as a backdrop. Photograph supplied by Paul Snelling - thanks, Paul. Its plinth carries a notice inscribed:
 The last Public Well and Pump built
in Windsor in 1852.
Sealed up in 1884 shortly before the
Council acquired the local Waterworks.
Restored in June 2002
by the Windsor and Eton Society.
Markings: None.

Manufacturer: Unk.

bray, 2018 At Jesus Hospital Almshouses, Bray, Windsor & Maidenhead. Thanks to Mike Woolford for the photos. This is unusual, in that it has a sizeable lead cistern mounted some distance above the spout. This therefore is not simply a large version of a traditional lead tank with a "nose", i.e., spout, protruding from it. Peering inside the cistern (see image, far right) we can see that there's a pipe containing the operating rod which disappears down into the depths and no doubt connects with the water source. To one side of this there's a standpipe which extends upwards almost to the top of the cistern, and it is this which must connect to the remote spout. We can therefore envisage the operation of the handle filling the cistern, and when almost full the water would flow over the top of the standpipe and exit via the spout. All well and good as a theory, but why the complex arrangement? Mike makes an interesting suggestion that the holding of water in the cistern could help some way towards priming the pump, ie., by keeping the valves wet. Although the structure has been renovated, an original photo shows that the cistern/tank arrangement is just as it was in Victorian times.

Markings: A lion's head and various floral motifs on the cistern.

Manufacturer: Unk.
bray, 2018 bray, 2018 bray, 2018 bray, 2018

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