Aldgate Pump is an historic water pump

Water Pump

Water Pump is one of the neighbourhoods of Gulberg Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan. It is near main Water Pump that supplies fresh water to the city of Karachi....

 in the City of London

City of London

The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...

, at the junction of Aldgate High Street (leading from Aldgate

Aldgate

Aldgate was the eastern most gateway through London Wall leading from the City of London to Whitechapel and the east end of London. Aldgate gives its name to a ward of the City...

), Fenchurch Street

Fenchurch Street

Fenchurch Street is a street in the City of London home to a number of shops, pubs and offices. It links Aldgate at its eastern end with Lombard Street and Gracechurch Street to the west. To the south of Fenchurch Street and towards its eastern end is Fenchurch Street railway station...

 and Leadenhall Street

Leadenhall Street

Leadenhall Street is a street in the City of London, formerly part of the A11. It runs east from Cornhill to Aldgate, and west vice-versa. Aldgate Pump is at the junction with Aldgate...

. The pump marks the start of the A13 road to Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness

Shoeburyness is a town in southeast Essex, England, situated at the mouth of the river Thames Estuary. It is within the borough of Southend-on-Sea, and is situated at the far east of the borough, around east of Southend town centre...

, and is a Grade II listed structure. As a well, it was mentioned during the reign of King John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

. As the city developed, it is thought to have been taken down and re-erected in its current location in 1876, as a drinking fountain, as streets were widened.

Served by one of London's many underground streams, people began to complain about the "funny" taste of the water. Upon investigation, this was found to be caused by the leaching of calcium

Calcium

Calcium is the chemical element with the symbol Ca and atomic number 20. It has an atomic mass of 40.078 amu. Calcium is a soft gray alkaline earth metal, and is the fifth-most-abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust...

 from the bones of the dead in many new cemeteries in north London through which the stream ran. In 1876, the New River Company changed the supplies to mains water.

The wolf head on the pump is supposed to signify the last wolf shot in the City of London.

Fenchurch Street railway station

Fenchurch Street railway station

Fenchurch Street railway station, also known as London Fenchurch Street, is a central London railway terminus in the south eastern corner of the City of London, England. The station is one of the smallest terminals in London in terms of platforms and one of the most intensively operated...

 was built in 1841 upon the site of Aldgate Pump Court.

Aldgate Pump was also the name of a song, written by G. W. Hunt for the lions comique Arthur Lloyd in 1869. In the song, the raconteur is abandoned by the girl "I met near Aldgate Pump".

There is also a landmark in the township of Aldgate in the Adelaide Hills in South Australia, Australia, known as the "Aldgate Pump". It is a disused hand pump, which was originally located directly outside the Aldgate Pump Hotel. It was relocated to the intersection of Kingsland Road and Mt Barker Road but was removed in 2009 to make way for roadworks. It was installed on a pedestal on the footpath in the Aldgate Main Street in May 2011.