​What is this 1960’s black metal utility device, roughly one cubic foot in size, with pipes coming out of it under the kitchen counter in a 150 year old English home?

A water heater or a pump is my best guess.

For context, the original caption said this:

“Mr. Sutton Pownall, a gravedigger, with his wife Joyce and their five children in a 150 year old house in Oldham, England. June 1st, 1962.”

Based on those dates, it could be much older than the 1960s, just not newer.