Monument record 2263 - Ice House East of Thornycroft Hall, Siddington

An Ice House is situated east of Thornycroft Hall in a fenced woodland. Only the lower half of the brick chamber remains, and is half filled with rubbish and leaves. The nearest water is a parkland lake, 40 metres to the East. There is no public access. 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. 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.