Building record 1763/1/3 - Ice House at Carden Hall

There is an Ice House on the hillside at Carden Park side among stunted oak trees, close to the site of the former hall. It dates to the early 19th century and is brick built, under an artificial mound of earth. Inside is a round domed chamber with a cavity double wall, entered by a barrel-vaulted passage with angled turn to exclude sun. There is no public access to this site. For a long time, there were few ways of preserving food other than salting and pickling. From the 17th century, the idea of an Ice house was introduced to large estates. They were structures built to house blocks of ice to prevent them from melting. This ice could be used to preserve food. They were well insulated and partly underground. The ice was obtained from ponds and lakes frozen in the winter months. Sometimes fields were deliberately flooded by farmers to provide extra income.