Calne Blue Plaques #7

I hoped to get some pictures in Melksham this afternoon, but rain and greyness had set in. I had stopped briefly in Calne as I was setting out and taken this shot of the old pump. I hadn't intended to use it, but it turned out to be the only picture I took.

The Bath Road Pump
Previous to 1801 the main route through Calne had been down through Church Street. The gardens from the Church Street houses stretched down to the River Marden.
The other route through Calne was down Patford Street and across a bridge, situated near where the current bridge with the pump stands.
In 1801 a road was cut through the gardens and was named New Road, for obvious reasons. As coach travel increased this was the main London to Bath coaching road.
The current bridge was built about the same time as the road and the pump, reputed to be installed at the instigation of Beau Nash, was used to fetch water to lay the dust in the road and refresh travellers’ horses. - Calne Heritage

L.
18.12.2014 (1932 hr)

Blip #1447
Consecutive Blip #009
Day #1730
LOTD #682 (#802 including archived blips)

Lens: Pentax 12-24 mm

Calne series
Calne Blue Plaque series
Wilts and Berks Canal series

Lozarhythm Of The Day:
Laura Marling - Short Movie (2014)
New material from a favourite artist. This is from Short Movie – the forthcoming new album from Laura Marling.

One year ago: Smokey 1517 hr