The Ice-House

No, we aren’t talking about igloos here, but an actual ice-house that was being used in the 18th century. The team who went inside the cave discovered an abandoned ice-house. So, what is an ice house? It was the place where ice-cubes were stored. Just like us where we freeze the water in a fridge people in the past stored the ice in these little houses known as the ice-house. You might think what so special about these ice-houses. The thing is that unlike present times, in the past, ice was considered as a luxury and only rich people were able to afford it. Now, this is new, right? But did you know who built this ice-house which was discovered?

Ice Cubes

As surprising as this might sound to you, ice was really an expensive commodity which only a few were able to afford. Unlike today, where we just have to go to the fridge to get some ice and chill our thirst. Back in the past, the ice was really expensive. And the interesting part is that they didn’t have the fridge. And that is where ice-houses came in. You could say that these ice-houses acted as a fridge and there weren’t many who had them. Only a few.

The First One

So, in the year 1619, when King James I ruled Britain, he ordered that the first underground ice house of London should be built. But where? The location that was chosen for the construction was in London’s Greenwich Park. As you can see, ice houses look nothing like an igloo. 

Underground

The ice house was built underground for a very valid reason. Back when the first ice house was constructed there were no problems of climate change. So, people breathed fresh air and there was almost no pollution. So, these ice houses were built underground to keep the internal temperature low.

One Quality

The interesting thing about these ice houses is that the more ice they held the easier it was to keep the temperature low or to the point where ice didn’t melt away and stayed the same for few days. Amazing right? Like today, ice doesn’t stay solid for over a minute if we keep it out in open.

Selling Ice

So, more and more ice was stored in the ice houses. It was easier to keep the temperature low if there was more ice in the houses. Londoners were making a good amount of money by bringing ice to the city. The sold it to the elite families because as we already told you not everybody was able to able to afford the ice houses.