63353 An ice-house was located to the rear of The Old Hall It was still in existence in the 1950s, but appears to have gone by the 1970s. {1}{2}{3} The icehouse in the grounds of the nineteenth century country house was typically a freestanding masonry structure, with an entrance, a passage, a chamber and drain, and a vault, the roof vault covered either with earth or with a thatched roof. In Britain some three thousand were built, the majority in the period 1750-1875. Many were built, like this example at The Old Hall, by old fishponds or landscaped lakes. Proximity to the house or to a source of ice was often less important than solving the problem of drainage, which in such structures was critical. In 1819 John Papworth summarised the requirements thus: 'in a retired spot in the grounds, and not far removed from water, and yet sufficiently elevated to be secure from damp', by which he meant safe from permanent saturation below the water table. So the most popular location became the sloping bank of a stream or pond, not too far from one of the estate roads. {4}