The history of Pump Square is veiled in mystery, it is not mentioned by that name before 1600 but it was a place of importance long before that date. An old tradition says that a prison once stood there and that in this prison there were two dungeons below the ground level, one three steps lower than the other. It is said that in the floor of the lower dungeon a spring of water flowed continuously and the most difficult prisoners were confined in this cell where they had to pump up water for the inhabitants of the town, the punishment being that if the prisoner ceased from his work his cell would flood and he would be more uncomfortable. The two cells are in existence, they are arched and have groined roofs and were opened out for examination many years ago.
There are other reasons that seem to prove that Pump Square was a centre of some importance in the early years of Boston's history. Just as all the roads and lanes entering the town open into the Market Place, so all the narrow lanes east of the Market Place (Still Lane, Dolphin Lane etc.) lead into Pump Square along with the narrow lanes of Bargate (Mitre Lane, Silver Street) and Main Ridge.
