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Ross-on-Wye

The Ice House

The Ice House
The Ice House as seen from Vaga Crescent
(Click for a larger image)

The Ice House, Ross-on-Wye, is just off Wilton Road. It has six floors, with the top two floors are at the same level as Wilton Road and the lower levels are built into the bank with its ground floor on the same level as Wye Street.


The ice house was built in around 1830. It's original use may have been, exactly as the name suggests, a place to store ice, which came from the river Wye when it froze during the winter. The building would have been well insulated, quite possibly using something like straw from the local area and then packed with ice.

The insulation would mean that the ice would not melt very quickly and would be available for most of the year. The ice was then probably available to be bought by shops and inns in the town to help preserve food and for many other uses.

Ice House Ross-on-Wye
The Ice House
(Click for a larger image)

It is also suggested that Samuel Llewellyn had it built to store Wye Salmon before they were delivered to Gloucester for delivery to the Queen and later, after the 1860's, to store fish in for his fishmongers shop. (Taken from 'Ross Civic Society' notes by Heather Hurley)

More recently, after it stopped being used as an ice house, it was used as a shop and it was a motor bike shop and Washrite white good sales and repairs. The building then became unsafe and was put up for sale as a development property and was rebuilt in 2005 whilst being converted into a dwelling.



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[Page updated: Feb 15 2011 13:31:58]






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