Hidden treasure

This is one of a pair of beautifully engraved glazed doors that grace the amazing pumping station built in 1866 by the Rothschilds deep in the wooded Dancersend valley near Tring. It was built to pump clean water from the enormous chalk aquifer underneath the Chiltern hills. From storage reservoirs sunk into the hillside, this could then be fed by gravity to a number of the Rothschild mansions and surrounding villages, which had suffered typhoid outbreaks from contaminated wells. It is so sad that the general public cannot see these doors or even get a good view of the ornate building (see extra photo) due to security fencing. One of many hidden treasures in this wonderful valley, but a lot larger than the others!