BEVERLEY CIVIC SOCIETY BRING HISTORY BACK TO LIFE
Fri 3rd January 2020
You may have noticed something missing recently on North Bar Within... The striking green, Grade 11 listed Victorian Water Pump, that has sat in the same location for nearly 150 years was, on the 10th December last year, removed.
Thankfully the pump has not gone for good! Instead, as the result of a Beverley Civic Society project, it has been sent for restoration. Using an identical pump as an example, (which is located in Esher, Surrey) a new handle and spout will be cast and the missing castellations - the ornate patterning around the top of the pump - will be replaced.
The pump will also undergo a much-needed spring clean and will receive a fresh coat of paint. The precise colour scheme is still up for debate, but a project is underway at Wyke College, Hull where students are working on a number of possible schemes.
A stalwart in the architectural scene of Beverley, the pump is a major part of the town's heritage, and many Beverlonians feel a strong sense of communal ownership towards it. The pump was made in the 1870’s by the London firm Owens of Whitefriars, which is no longer in existence. Designed in the Gothic architectural style, which was at the time experiencing a revival, the pump was used for a variety of purposes supplying local households, the general community, and horses with water. It was in use until the 1940’s, but since its decommission the handle has been lost and the spout broken off.
The restoration project, initiated in March 2018 by Mr Richard Fatkin and managed by Dick Lidwell of the Beverley Civic Society, has received funding from the Civic Society itself, Yorkshire Water, Thwaites Brewery (of the Beverley Arms), Beverley Town Council, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, plus six Beverlonians, including one individual who remembers using the pump when it was still in use in the 1940’s!
Donors will be acknowledged on a plaque to be unveiled on the pump’s return.
For further information about this and other projects Beverley Civic Society are involved in, please visit their website at www.beverleycivicsociety.co.uk and/or attend one of the monthly meetings which are usually held in St. Mary’s Church Hall.
With acknowledgements to Dick Lidwell for permission to use photographs of the Pump.
