Record Details
| MonUID: | MST18278 |
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| HER Number: | 54509 |
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| Type of record: | Monument |
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| Name: | Icehouse, Tixall Park |
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Summary
A brick built icehouse located in a small wood to the north-east of Tixall Hall, within the former extent of Tixall Park. The icehouse is of probable late 18th century or earlier date.
Monument Type(s):
- ICEHOUSE (Built, Georgian to Hanoverian - 1766 AD? to 1833 AD?)
Protected Status:
Full description
An icehouse situated in a small wood to the north-east of the site of Tixall Hall (PRN 00856). The icehouse does appear to be marked on any Estate or Ordnance Survey maps, but it is thought likely that it was built some time after 1766 when Thomas Clifford and his wife took possession of the estate and started to modernise and improve it. Similarly it seems unlikely that it would have been built after 1833 when the Clifford's put the estate up for sale.
The entrance faces north and was originally down a short passage, however the wall on one side has collapsed and the roof of the passage has now fallen in. The icehouse was constructed of brick (laid in a form of Flemish bond, although with less of a symmetrical pattern than is typical), with a domed roof. That part of the floor that was exposed during investigation was of uncemented brick (probably to allow the meltwater to drain), with stone flags around the edge. A drain with semi-circular sump was located at the side of the floor, and above this, in the wall, was a possible 'weephole' which may have been used to drain the cavity between the brick walls of the ice house. An iron ladder remains in situ.
The nearest source of ice to fill the icehouse appears to have been Tixall Pool to the north-west or the canal at Tixall Broad Water to the south. (SB, 05-Sept-2011) <1>
Sources and further reading
| <1> | SST1598 - Serial: Staffordshire Industrial Archaeology Society. 2011. Journal of the Staffordshire industrial Archaeology Society Number 22 (2011). 'Tixall Icehouse' by Anne and Jim Andrews (Pages 4-16). |
Related records
| 20736 | Part of: Tixall Park (Monument) |
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