Site of Ice House off Long Street/Ratcliffe Street, Atherstone.

1 Ice house revealed during demolition/clearance of, apparently, the old police station. Examined 9.3.75 at request of County Surveyor’s Department. The ice house was a domed shape, with a circular brick opening, dished to hold a lid, and placed centrally, at the apex of the dome. The floor and sides were of brick. There was provision for drainage into a nearby well, according to the site foreman. The floor was fluted, presumably to prevent water gathering at the bottom. Access would seem to have been by ladder, and/or windlass. No information could be obtained as to the nature or date of the buildings above, now demolished. Whether contemporary with these or not, the icehouse seemed, from its type of brickwork, to be of Victorian date. The feature was slabbed over and not filled in. The icehouse was 3.35m in depth from the surface. The circular floor was 3.6m in diameter and the circular entry hole 85cm diameter.
2 Plan drawn in 1977.