Ice house in Malvern Park

Image: © Tiger Taken: 11 Jun 2010

In a wooded section of the former grounds of Malvern Hall are these sad remains of an ice house from the late 18th century, listed Grade II. http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-436440-ice-house-about-200-metres-south-of-malv Francis Walter Bagnall Yorke (1879-1957) investigated the structure in 1952 and published his report in the Transactions of the Birmingham Archaeological Society (vol. 72, p. 22): "The structure is in a tolerably good state of preservation, the house itself being intact so far as may be seen. As the lower part is quite filled with rubbish, it is impossible to trace any sign of provision for drainage. The well is approximately 22 ft [6.7.m] high to the crown of the dome internally, and some 15 ft [4.6m] in diameter at its widest circumference. The vaulted entrance is broken somewhat beyond a distance of 4 ft [1.2m] from the entrance that is at the end of a short passage; so also is the wall in the right-hand angle turn in the entrance passage. This angle in the passage is unusual (it is rather a variation of the passage in the restored ice house at the Governor's palace at Williamsburg, Virginia). The vaulted ceiling of the passage is groined into the roof of the main structure. "The ice chamber is similar in shape to the one at Barrells Hall, Ullenhall [in Image], and its egg-shaped section bears much the same relation to the normal ground level. The well itself and the vaulted passage are all in brickwork. There is a square opening at the centre of the dome over the house, from which the lid and frame have disappeared." The whole of this would originally have been covered by earth for insulation. Ice was harvested from the nearby River Blythe in winter and used to keep food cool throughout the summer.

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