Building record 5993/0/15 - Disused Sewage Works, Ashton Green

Disused sewage works at Ashton Green. The sewage works were built between 1900 and 1926 as part of the Ashton Estate built by Lord Rothschild for his son Charles Rothschild, to a design by William Huckvale. The sewage works consist of brick enclosures, one of which is rendered, and evidence of tanks and vents; they been out of use for some time and are overgrown. The sewage works are on the 1926 OS Map marked as two tanks and a filter bed.

{1} The disused sewage works at Ashton Green were assessed as part of an English Heritage Defined Area Survey of the Ashton Estate.

In 1900 Lord Rothschild (Nathaniel Mayer, 1st Lord Rothschild, 1840-1915) commissioned the architect William Huckvale to design, for his son Charles Rothschild, not only a house at Ashton Wold, but a model farm, and an entire complement of estate buildings which included the Steward's house, stables, gardeners' accommodation, a building to house a fire engine, a petrol store, kennels (now derelict) and a dog hospital. Most of the cottages at nearby Ashton were also rebuilt to create a model village. The Rothschilds became the first landowners in the country to provide their tenants with the luxury of both running filtered water and electricity, the latter generated by turbines housed in an old mill below the village on the River Nene, from where water was pumped to a water tower and so to the estate buildings. Each cottage had a bath house. It is presumed that the sewage works at Ashton Green were therefore built to serve Ashton village and the estate buildings.

The disused sewage works at Ashton Green consist of a number of brick enclosures, one of which is rendered, and evidence of tanks and vents. The sewage works have been out of use for some time, and are overgrown and full of debris. They are on the 1926 OS Map, marked as two tanks and a filter bed. The Laundry which served the estate is situated to the north-east of the works, a further indication of the water-related services provided for the Rothschild family and the residents of their estate.

<1> ENGISH HERITAGE, English Heritage Listing File, Heritage Protection Officer, 24th July 2009 (Report). SNN111579.

Record last edited

Feb 17 2025 6:53PM