Gibside Estate, Ice House

It was probably the second Mrs. Bowes wish that the ice house was built. In July 1747 William Cranston was sent from Ravensworth Castle with some ice. Some months later a letter arrived from Mr. Jones, gardener at Ravensworth Castle, requesting two pails of ice for his master. This may have hastened the building of the ice house. In 1748 Thomas Hope was paid for building up the arch at the ice house and John Maughan for sawing joists. In November of that year Thomas Hopes was building the ice house porch. The building was thatched. The bottom part was of an inverted beehive construction made of brick, 18 feet deep and 25 feet across. The top of the structure was a brick groin vault of concentric rings with cross arches on either side of the entrance. Bowes never again had to ask Ravensworth Castle for ice or fresh fruit. A stone entrance gives access to the hemispherical chamber of this late 18th century icehouse. LISTED GRADE 2