| Summary : An icehouse and three-storey tower located in the outbuildings of Great Moreton Hall, together with an associated paved yard in which ice was made. The buildings are built of local Peak gritstone and were designed as part of the hall, which was built in 1841-43 by architect Edward Blore. The icehouse has a brick, vaulted tunnel which leads to a cylindrical chamber with a brick, domed roof. Access was through a hexagonal stone tower. The ice chamber is partly under a mound to the rear of the tower and partly under the old ground surface. The tower is now roofless but originally had a roof, internal stairs and three storeys. The ground floor provided access to the icehouse and the upper two floors were either used as a summerhouse or as living quarters for estate staff. To the north of the icehouse is a stone-walled yard measuring 8 metres by 8 metres, with surrounding walls of 5 metres high. The floor of the yard is paved and has a central gulley drain. This yard was designed to be flooded in winter to produce ice for the ice house. This was then broken up and passed through the hole in the wall to the entrance of the ice house, a distance of about 6 metres. The yard wall is linked to the tower by a garden wall of which the tower is a decorative corner feature. |
More information : The icehouse at Great Moreton Hall is unusual in being integrated in the garden scheme together with an elaborate entrance in the form of a tower and an ice yard beside it. This design is in keeping with the style of the main house and with the innovations in farm buildings which are part of the original estate. This was one of the first estates in the area to use reinforced concrete in sections to build farm outbuildings.
The monument includes an icehouse and associated three storey tower located in the outbuildings of Great Moreton Hall, together with an associated paved yard area in which ice was made. The icehouse and tower are Listed Grade II. The buildings are of local Peak gritstone and were designed as part of the hall, having been built in 1841 by Edward Blore. In style the tower and garden walls are neo-Elizabethan and the icehouse must be considered as part of an elaborate and partly experimental architectural reconstruction. The icehouse is a cylindrical chamber with a domed roof built of brick. There is a trap and drain in the floor and a small opening in the roof of the chamber. Access was through an octagonal stone tower, with three floors. The tower had a sloping passage in the wall at the left hand side of the doorway, which is now secured by a metal door. Rebates for a sealed door and hinge brackets for an outer door show how the chamber would have been closed. The ice chamber is partly under a mound to the rear of the tower and partly under the old ground surface. The tower is now roofless but originally had a roof, internal stairs and three storeys. There are fireplaces in the top two storeys and they show scorching of the stonework. The ground floor provided access to the icehouse. The upper two floors were either used as a summerhouse or as living quarters for estate staff. To the north of the icehouse is a small stone-walled yard which gives access to the stable court through a gate on its north side. The yard measures 8m by 8m and the surrounding walls are 5m high. In the north wall, opposite the entrance to the icehouse, there is a stone lined horizontal slit at chest height. The floor of the yard is paved and slopes quite steeply into a drain at the centre. This yard was designed to be flooded in winter to produce ice for the ice house. This was then broken up and passed through the hole in the wall to the entrance of the ice house, a distance of about 6m. The yard wall is linked to the tower by a garden wall of which the tower is a decorative corner feature. The surfaces of the paths which run through the complex are excluded from the scheduling, although the ground beneath is included. (1)
Icehouse. c. 1841-43. By Edward Blore. Coursed yellow sandstone rubble of 3 storeys. Garden front: at left is a portion of walling connecting it with the drying ground. This walling has a central archway with a cambered head and three further receding archways between which are channels carved as if to take portcullises. Above this is a walkway. To right is the hexagonal body of the icehouse. This has a porchway to the left-hand canted face, supporting the walkway above which leads to a blocked doorway. The face at right of this has a 2-light window to the ground floor and lancets to the first and second floors. The entrance front has the wall containing a cambered arch at right with a battlemented parapet above with machicolation. To left of this is the tower which has to its right hand angle a doorway. Blank walling above. Interior: the floors and roof have been removed. Leading off from the ground floor is a tunnel-vaulted corridor of brick which leads to a circular chamber with domed ceiling and dished floor, also of brick. The tunnel joins this chamber at its upper body. (2)
This icehouse is unusual in that it is under a mound attached to, and originally entered via, a mock castle-type gatehouse. This was built as a summerhouse and is hexagonal and roofless. The icehouse has a brick, vaulted tunnel which leads to a circular, domed chamber with a dished floor. The tunnel joins the chamber at its upper body. The other unusual, probably unique feature of the icehouse, is that it did not rely on a pond for a supply of ice but a yard. The yard is 8m by 8m and surrounded by a 5m stone wall with an entrance gate. The ice yard is paved with a central gulley drain. (3) |