Windpump

I saw this old windpump in the corner of a field on one of my bike rides. It is a wind powered water pump which can lift water from an underground source of water to ground level and into a storage tank to be used for irrigation or other purposes. You can see a large water tank behind it. There is a water channel running alongside the field, so this one may just be taking water from there.
 
It's the sort of thing you might expect to see in the great american prairies rather than a field in France.