Monument record 0770200000 - Waddesdon Manor Gasworks at junction of Ashendon to Westcott road and road to Westcott Field Farm

The gas house at Westcott was built in 1883 to supply gas to the Rothschild estate at Waddesdon Manor. Coal was brought to Quainton by rail, transferred to the Wotton tramway where it was then carried to a siding at Westcott which had previously been used for the transporting of building materials for the manor. Gas was then manufactured and piped up the hill to the Manor, stables, and laundry. The by-products such as tar and ammonia were returned by rail via Quainton to Silvertown in London. The gas house manager was trained in gas making for two years at Ascott House, before taking charge at Westcott in 1883. During the First World War, coal became increasingly difficult to obtain, and the estate gas works closed in 1916, with production transferring to Waddesdon village [See CASS 07703] (B1).
'Gas Works' marked on 1900 2nd edition 6-inch OS map, gasometer and railway siding also shown. The location of the former gasholder is visible as a cropmark in the grass of the cricket ground (B2).
The gasworks were originally built for Baron de Rothschild who owned Waddesdon Manor. They were in the village of Westcott 1500m west of the manor. The gasworks had their own railway siding from the Oxford & Aylesbury Tramroad and closed in 1926. Nothing visible survives (B3).