The Ice House

The Ice House

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14 Comments CherryPie on Aug 31st 2011

14 Responses to “Paxton – The Ice House”

  1. I been told ice house around here buried the ice in sawdust.
    But I have to ask on second picture what are those things that look like giant stars.

    Coffee is on.

  2. Steve Hayes says:

    An icehouse featured in Minette Walters’s eponymous novel. Nice to see pictures of one.

  3. Ginnie says:

    Very cool, Cherry. :D You are so right…we do take cold drinks for granted, don’t we!

  4. Claude says:

    Fascinating! We certainly evolved. But we were smart to begin with. I remember, when I was little, my mother buying ice blocks (burried in sawdust) for 25 cents. I was responsible for emptying the basin of water under the bottom of the wooden icebox.Wasn’t always in time…

  5. JD says:

    I haven’t been in that one but I have been in the Ice House at Wallington Hall-
    http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-wallington
    The one at Paxton is half underground but the one at Wallington is not, however it is still very chilly inside even in the middle of summer (summer? ha!) The ice came from the lakes in the grounds and was packed very tightly against the walls and insulated with straw. The walls being very thick are also good insulators, keeping the outside heat (if any- ha! again) at bay.
    Here’s the wiki entry on ice houses- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_house_%28building%29

    Cherie, you need to visit Wallington next time :)

    • CherryPie says:

      That is interesting, most of the ice houses I have seen have been half underground. I guess I really do need to see the one at Wallington. Thanks for the history link :-)

  6. jameshigham says:

    I run a similar system at my place, having no fridge.

  7. I like it. I am sure the location was chosen for being sheltered too. He says stating the blindingly obvious!