Monument record 1298/3/1 - Ice House in Tatton Park

Ice House situated in Tatton Park near Melchett Mere In 1984 it was partly filled and in need of repair. By 1986 it had been cleared and repaired and is open to the public. There was another ice house at Tatton but it has been demolished and nothing remains. 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.