The Watford Observer is again delighted to be teaming up with its friends at Watford Museum to take another journey back to the past to recall the key events and dates that helped shape the town’s future.

Part 36 of '50 events and dates that shaped Watford' looks back to when an "unsightly object" was put up for auction after water mains were laid in the town.

The museum's volunteer archivist Christine Orchard said: "The Watford town pump was an important source for water within the town. However with the laying of water mains it was considered to be, in the words of a writer to the Watford Observer, an 'unsightly object in the Market Place'. The suggestion was that its removal could make way for a public fountain.

Watford Observer:

The sale of the Watford town pump advertised in the Watford Observer

"The Local Board was also of this opinion and so the whole pump with pipes and railings were put up for auction on May 5, 1863. The only condition was that the purchaser would have to remove the pump themselves. A fountain was erected on the site and was reached by a flight of stone steps but sadly it only remained in place until 1873."

Watford Observer:

A modern-day view of where the Market Hall and pump were located

Watford Museum is open Thursday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm.