THE pump at the spring where legendary character Ruth Pierce would have drawn water has been saved for posterity by the efforts of villagers.

The ad hoc group of concerned Potterne residents received notification from English Heritage last week that their application to have the pump and the nearby 17th century bridge over the culvert in Whistley Road listed as Grade II was successful.

Tony Graham, who completed the paperwork on behalf of the group, said: “The pump is still being used by people to fill up tanks of water and until 1987 it was the only source of fresh water for some local houses.”

The spring which feeds the pump has been used by villagers from time immemorial. It would certainly have been used by Ruth Pierce, whose story is immortalised in a plaque on the market cross in Devizes.

Pierce was one of a group of women who came to Devizes market one morning in 1753 to buy corn.

When it came to paying, it was found that they were short and it was asked who hadn’t paid.

Ruth Pierce swore she had contributed and told her friends, God strike me dead if I tell a lie, and immediately dropped dead on the spot.

The market cross is sometimes referred to as the Ruth Pierce memorial, which it is not.

Pierce lived a few doors away from the pump and would certainly have drawn water at the spring, although the pump would not be installed for another 130 years.

The pump, which dates back to the late 19th century, has suffered from vandalism and has had to be repaired fairly recently.