Pump in Ray Street, Clerkenwell

Pump in Ray Street, Clerkenwell. Water pump for the Clerks Well spring (Clerkenwell), situated between a cobblers and a shop with caged birds in the window with a plaque inscribed: 'A.D. 1800. Wilm Bound [and] Joseph Bird Church Wardens. For the better accomodation of the neighbourhood, this pump was remnoved to the spot where it now stands. The spring by which it is supplied is situated four feet eastward and round it, as History informs us, the parish clerks of London in remove ages annually performed sacred plays. That custom caused it to be denominated Clerks-Well, and from which this Parish derives its name. The water was greatly esteemed by the prior and brethren of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, and the Benedictine Nuns of the neighbourhood.'