Summary

Probably late 18th century. Rendered brick. Domed cylinder with access passage to west. Fine "headerbond" brickwork visible inside, which is lit by tiny oculi.

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Monument Types

Description

Probably C18. Rendered brick. Domed cylinder with access passage to west. Fine "headerbond" brickwork visible inside, which is lit by tiny oculi. The National Trust 2002 guidebook states:

'The ice-house…was built c. 1800 and has a fine domed brick interior. In the era before mechanical refrigeration, ice was stored in a pit packed in straw, and brought in to the house during the summer when needed. The exterior was covered with concrete during the Second World War so that it could be used as an air-raid shelter.'

Excavations for a gas pipe running across the garden were monitored by Lesley Howes in 1992/93 and the following is extracted from her May 1994 report :

'A new gas main was laid across the orchard, from the south East to the north West, it then ran north against the west boundary wall of the orchard, under the north boundary wall to join up with a pipe being laid to the north of the boundary wall. It was not considered necessary for the archaeologist to watch the orchard trench but she was called in when the excavations alongside the west boundary wall exposed the remains of a brick wall running north/south. This wall was 0.5m wide and butted onto the main east-west wall. At the bottom of the gas pipe trench to the north of the Ice House, 5.6m to the east of the archway in the north wall, part of the Ice House drain was uncovered. This was 0.2m wide and made from red sandy bricks with white lime mortar. It was not possible to sample the brick or mortar as the trench did not go deep enough.' (1)

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