Petrol Store, Pump And Vent To Underground Tank

This petrol store was built between 1900 and 1914 and designed by William Huckvale for Lord Rothschild and the Ashton Estate. It represents a rare survival from the early days of motoring in Britain, when petrol was sold in two-gallon cans and had to be stored in purpose-built structures separate from stables and servants' quarters for safety reasons.

Construction and Materials

The building is constructed of coursed rock-faced limestone, occasionally snecked, with a brick-lined interior and a reed-thatched hipped roof. This reflects the high-quality vernacular building traditions employed throughout the Ashton Estate, where even simple working buildings received the same careful design attention as dwellings and farmsteads.

Exterior

The petrol store is a small rectangular building with a single entrance on the south-east side facing the road. The door is of plank and batten construction with a latch and strap hinges. On the opposite north-west wall is a plain glazed opening. Ventilation was carefully considered in the design: vents are positioned both below the eaves and just above ground level, the latter placement reflecting the fact that petrol vapour is heavier than air and sinks. Immediately to the north-east of the building stands the lower portion of a 1920s cylindrical petrol pump, a tall cylindrical vent pipe, and a manhole, all providing evidence of an underground fuel tank that was added to supplement or replace the original can storage system.

Interior

The brick floor sits just below ground level. Two sets of shelves are fixed against the north-east and south-west walls for storing petrol cans. These shelves are made of slate supported on iron legs, with the narrower upper shelf resting on iron brackets. The north-west window opening is splayed to allow maximum light into the interior.

Historical Context

The Ashton Estate, stretching from the River Nene near Oundle westward to Ashton Wold in the east, has been occupied since Roman times. In the 18th century it functioned as a well-known sporting estate, with avenues of chestnut trees planted in a cross pattern as rides and numerous fox coverts. During the early 19th century the estate was owned by William Walcot and largely farmed by tenants, with Ashton Wold continuing as sporting ground. However, there is no evidence that it ever contained a manor house, and when Lionel Rothschild purchased it in 1860, the sale particulars described it as "a very valuable and important landed estate" with sporting advantages but no house adapted for the occupation of a gentleman.

Neither Lionel Rothschild nor his son Nathaniel Mayer, 1st Lord Rothschild (1840-1915), showed much interest in the estate. The only structural work undertaken in the 19th century was the building of a hunting lodge at Ashton Wold. However, when Lord Rothschild's second son, Nathaniel Charles (1877-1923), known as Charles, discovered Ashton by accident whilst on a butterfly-collecting expedition with the vicar of Polebrook, he was so impressed by the rich fauna and flora of Ashton Wold that he persuaded his father to build him a house on the site of the hunting lodge.

Lord Rothschild commissioned William Huckvale to design not only a house but a model farm and an entire complement of estate buildings. These included the Steward's house, stables, gardeners' accommodation, a fire engine house, the petrol store, kennels (now derelict), and a dog hospital. Most of the cottages at nearby Ashton were rebuilt to create a model village. High-quality design and workmanship were consistent themes throughout the estate, where vernacular building traditions—Collyweston stone slate and thatch roof coverings, steeply pitched roofs, tall chimneys, limestone masonry walling and dressings, and mullioned windows—were all faithfully referenced. Simple working buildings such as cart hovels, wash houses, and potting sheds were consciously afforded the same care as the dwellings, farmsteads, and garden structures.

The petrol store is one of several service buildings located to the north-west of the walled kitchen garden, near the water tower and fire engine house. Before roadside filling stations were introduced in the early 1920s, petrol was sold in two-gallon cans which for safety had to be stored in purpose-built petrol houses. A popular motoring primer written by A B Filson Young advised that such storage should not be built "adjoining ... stables, harness room, or the living room of the servants". In the 1920s the building's function was superseded—or the fuel supply enhanced—by an underground tank immediately to the north, complete with vent and fuel pump. Although fuel at Ashton may originally have been required as much for the back-up diesel engines at the mill as for the family's motor cars, the introduction of a pump may indicate an increase in the number of motorised vehicles on the estate.

The Architect

Little is known about William Huckvale (1847-1936), who worked mainly for the Rothschilds and therefore had no need to publicise his work in architectural journals. He was not a member of the RIBA. After setting up his own practice in London, he came into contact with Alexander Parks, agent to Lord Rothschild. He designed numerous buildings for the Rothschilds on the Tring Park estate, undertook considerable work at the Rothschild bank in New Court in the City of London, was the architect for the Royal Mint Refinery, and also carried out work on the Rothschild estate at Aston Clinton. The quality of his work is reflected in the 42 listed buildings he already has to his name: 13 in Tring and 29 on the Ashton Estate.

Charles Rothschild and His Legacy

Besides working full time at the family bank, Charles Rothschild was a renowned naturalist and pioneer conservationist who became the leading expert on fleas in the country. His interests also included the cultivation of rare orchids, irises, and water lilies, reflected in the original design and planting of the formal gardens at Ashton Wold. However, he took care to ensure that the planting attracted butterflies and other wildlife, and that much of the estate was left as woodland. He died in 1923.

His daughter Miriam, who inherited the estate on her mother's death in 1940, continued both his work on fleas and his interest in conservation. However, her approach to gardening showed a preference for wildness over formality—an approach that was to become highly influential in the gardening world—and she transformed the Edwardian garden at Ashton Wold by planting trees on the terraces and sowing wildflower meadows on the lawns. She became an international expert on fleas in her own right, a fellow of the Royal Society, was awarded eight honorary degrees, and was appointed DBE for her services to the study of natural history.

Significance

This petrol store is a rare and intact example of a very early petrol store, petrol tank, and pump. It forms an integral part of an important and unusually intact Edwardian model estate, with group value both with its immediate neighbours and with the Ashton Estate as a whole. It demonstrates high-quality design, craftsmanship, and materials, and has special historic interest as a structure associated with the early days of motoring in Britain, built as part of an estate developed by members of the internationally important Rothschild family.