Water Supply in Thornbury
The Pump
The old pump certainly had a considerable history in Thornbury. Probably the pump near The Plain was the one referred to in the Gloucestershire Quarter Sessions Order Book at Michaelmas 1725. "Inhabitants of Thornbury indicted for not repairing their Town or common pump. Fined £10 to be levied and raised by an equal rate of by Thomas Alway, John Hughes and Thomas Lewis on lands, tenements and hereditaments of the land-holders and inhabitants of the whole town by distress and sale of the goods and chattels of the landowners and inhabitants refusing to pay their several proportions, which sum is ordered by this court to be expended on the reparation of the said town or Common Pump".
The two photographs above were both taken in September 1924. They illustrate a famous dispute in Thornbury about the pump which always stood in the road outside the bank at the bottom of the High Street on the Plain. The photograph on the left was taken the day before the District Council removed the pump and the one on the right was taken two days later when the fight to have it restored had begun.
The Gazette of Saturday October 4th 1924 contains a brief account of the Thornbury Pump story which is probably as accurate as any. It explains that the suggestion removing the pump was apparently first mooted when it was suggested that the pump be replaced with a memorial to Queen Victoria. This idea was vetoed. However in 1919 the possibility of removing it was again introduced - this time to replace it with a memorial to those who fell in First World War. In 1924, after this idea was again turned down, the issue became an emotive one. The Rural District Council suddenly decided that it was in the interests of the road users to remove the pump altogether, which they did on Monday September 15th.
One hundred and thirty two ratepayers signed a letter to the District Council demanding the return of the Pump. One person wrote and asked how much longer he would have to wait before he could wash his trap, which he was wont to do in the road by the Pump - perhaps not the best argument to defend what was claimed to be an obstruction in the road.
The photograph above right shows the first attempt to restore the pump to its proper home. It was brought back on a waggon by a very excited crowd and apparently there was a placard on it saying "This pump belongs to the ratepayers of Thornbury." The police feared a riot.
On October 4th a protest meeting of "the electors of the special drainage district of Thornbury" was called. Charles Symes argued strongly that the road was 36 feet wide, that there was enough room for five cars to pass abreast, that the pump had been there for generations and was a public well and that no accidents had ever happened as a result of the pump being in the road. Mr A C Pitcher moved the resolution that the pump should not have been removed without the consent of the ratepayers and ordered for it to be returned and reinstated and there was a discussion about whether the councillors concerned with removing it should pay for its replacement and that of the two gas lamps that had been on it.
Mr A C Pitcher admitted that he knew that the Council wished to remove the pump but "he told them he would think it over. Before he had time to do so it was taken down." George Bernard Symes and Mr Riddiford, who were local District councillors, said the pump had not been used for two years and that the very people who were campaigning to have it returned had petitioned to have it removed. They felt the pump was dangerous and there should be an electric standard instead.
It becomes clear from these reports that the issue was dividing families. Charles and George Bernard Symes were uncle and nephew.
The Council investigated the history of the pump and found that the pump had not always stood on this site in the road. The pump had been immediately in front of the old White Hart Inn which was closed and demolished about 1857. A new well was then dug for the pump. We have been told that the parish records of St Mary's church in Thornbury show that a well was dug at the plain in November 1859. A pump was also installed by Messrs Harwood Hatcher and Sams. The Council took legal opinion and decided that the pump had been installed illegally on the highway where it was an obstruction and should there be an accident the Rural District Council would be liable. The pump was once more removed.
The Thornbury Gazette, June 13, 1959 had an item which shed more light on the size and position of the well.
"Recent road widening work at The Plain, Thornbury near the National Provincial Bank where a bus bay is to be made led to the discovery of a well which almost certainly is one which served the old pump on The Plain whose removal caused such controversy. The well which contained pure spring water was 44 ft. deep with about 11 ft. of water in it. The well has now been sealed and has been closed for ever. No trace was found of the missing pump."
The saga of the Pump was brought full circle in 1984 when a replica was installed on The Plain near the site of the one that was an alleged traffic hazard. The railings around the original were copied by craftsmen at Almondsbury Forge and the pump from near the market was used in place of the old one, which some people say had been hidden and others feared had been melted down to prevent another unofficial attempt to restore it. The final irony is that one reason given for restoring the pump was that it would be a traffic calming measure! The pump now in the middle of the road at The Plain by the way has a very interesting top to it which has been likened to a "fruit tart" and we would like to hear from anyone who knows why it is different from the usual pattern of pump tops.
This page was last updated: 19/08/2008