store ice cut from nearby lakes and rivers, or
even purpose-built ice ponds in the grounds
of the grandest houses.
The desire for cool coincided with
developments in building techniques,
including the increased manufacture and
use of bricks. These were the ideal building
material for the British style of icehouse,
which are most commonly brick-lined,
domed structures, with most of the storage
space underground. The above-ground part
of the structure would typically consist of a
hemispherical brick vault or earth mound,
often further protected with a covering of
puddle clay, or sometimes a conical thatched
roof. An “air lock” entry tunnel – resembling,
rather aptly, the entrance to an igloo –
provided extra protection from the elements.
The ice storage chambers were usually conical
or rounded at the bottom, with a drain to
take away the melt-water. Keeping the ice
as dry as possible was important – ice sitting
in a puddle tends to melt relatively quickly,
and running out of ice halfway through a
hot summer would not have impressed the
upper-class trendsetters of Georgian Britain.
The Taylor family of Moseley Park,
Birmingham, had their icehouse built at the
Top left, archaeologists examine the cavernous
icehouse at Regent’s Crescent (MOLA). Top
right, the entrance to the icehouse at Moseley
Park, Birmingam. Above, the Parlington Hall
icehouse used an “air lock” to maintain the
cold temperature (Brian Hull)