Monument record 0445900000 - DANCERS END PUMPING STATION
Summary
Protected Status/Designation
- None recorded
Map
Type and Period (3)
- PUMPING STATION (19th Century - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)
- WATERWORKS (19th Century - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)
- GARDEN (Designed 1865, 19th Century - 1800 AD to 1899 AD)
Description
ASSUMED SITED SO RESERVOIRS HAVE ALTITUDE TO FEED 3 ROTHSCHILD MANSIONS AT TRING, HALTON & WADDESDON. WAS IN POSITION TO OBTAIN LIME FROM CHALK FOR SOFTENING. COMPLETED 1866. NOW WORKING AUTOMATICALLY WITH ELECTRIC PUMPS. OLDER ITEMS OUT OF USE INCLUDE DOUBLE BEAM PUMPING STATION & SOFTENING TANKS (B1).
Monuments Protection Programme report and site assessment. Well composed group of buildings forming architecturally fine pumping station - at 1866 an early use of Artisan Mannerist style. Original steam engine is preserved at Kew. The site is also notable for the survival of its lime kilns and associated workings. Covered reservoirs on hill above site. Constructed for Chiltern Hills Waterworks Co. (B3).
Steam engine, dismantled in 1977 and taken to Kew Bridge, described by Hayes G 1981 (B4).
Photograph of the Boiler/Engine House (B5).
The compact grounds of a mid‐C19 rural fresh water pumping station c.1866 in a hilly Chiltern setting, well preserved if somewhat neglected, with strong links to the Rothschild family. It is focussed on a central brick pumping house and ancillary structures by one of the main architects to the Rothschild landowners in the Vale of Aylesbury, George Devey. Devey was a nationally renowned architect. The layout was probably designed by the consultant engineer to the Chiltern Hills Spring Water Company, Samuel Homersham, in 1865, accommodating Devey’s buildings. An avenue of mature cedars of several varieties lines the drive, of types commonly found in the nearby Rothschild parks and gardens. The focal landscape feature, the oval cooling pond, is overlooked by the engine house, with on the opposite side of the drive the remains of a substantial kitchen garden for the associated staff cottages. The later Superintendent’s house (built by 1897) overlooks the whole site, standing in its own garden. The pumping station was built early in the development of C19 waterworks in England when most undertakings, both private and municipal, were architecturally impressive and many had ornamented landscapes (e.g. Bestwood in Nottinghamshire). See report for detail (B8).
Sources (8)
- <1>SBC2661 Article in serial: CBA Group 9. 1969. CBA BULLETIN OF INDUSTRIAL ARCHAEOLOGY 9.
- <2>SBC11944 Bibliographic reference: PIKE A R (BCM) MARCH 1979 FIELD VISIT.
- <3>SBC19335 Unpublished document: Trent and Peak Archaeological Unit. 2000. MPP Water and Sewage Industries Step 3 Report.
- <4>SBC19336 Bibliographic reference: Hayes G. 1981. A Guide to Stationary Steam Engines. p34.
- <5>SBC19337 Bibliographic reference: Leslie W Hepple & Alison M Doggett. 1994. The Chilterns. p211.
- <6>SBC24475 Digital archive: English Heritage. 2014. National Heritage List for England: Listing Entry.
- <7>SBC24476 Digital archive: English Heritage. 2014. National Heritage List for England: Listing Entry.
- <8>SBC25235 Unpublished document: Buckinghamshire Gardens Trust. 2018. Dancers End Pumping Station, Buckland: Understanding Historic Parks and Gardens in Buckinghamshire.
Location
Grid reference | Centred SP 9047 0880 (171m by 160m) |
---|---|
Civil Parish | BUCKLAND, Aylesbury Vale, Buckinghamshire |
Finds (0)
Related Monuments/Buildings (8)
- Parent of: Dancer's End Pumping Station (Building) (0445902000)
- Parent of: Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445903000)
- Parent of: Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445904000)
- Parent of: Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445905000)
- Parent of: Entrance to Dancer's End Pumping Station (Building) (0445901000)
- Parent of: In wood to E of Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445906000)
- Parent of: Rear of Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445907000)
- Parent of: Reservoirs, Dancer's End Pumping Station (Monument) (0445908000)
Related Events/Activities (2)
- Event - Survey: MPP Field survey 1998 (EBC15862)
- Event - Survey: Site visit (EBC13467)
Record last edited
Nov 29 2023 5:31PM