Buildings and Structures

Decorative Structures

Ice House

The Ice House lies at the heart of the Winter Garden, and was probably built in the mid-eighteenth century. It was certainly in existence by 1763. Originally, inside the entrance tunnel there was a thick wooden inner door to aid insulation, and the whole house was covered in soil. In the early 1800s the soil was removed from the north side of the building, when a new boundary wall for the Gardens was built. The remains of the wall can still be seen.

The ice was harvested from several small ponds which once stretched from the Palm House pond to the river. It was packed with straw in a brick-lined shaft and insulated with a soil mound and domed roof. Trees and a north-facing door also protected the winter's harvest. It took a team of labourers and horses three days in freezing conditions to stock up the house with ice. Ice was a great luxury and was mainly used for cooling drinks and keeping food fresh in summer. The building was restored in 1982.