Exploring Kent's Past

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Monument details

Summary

Grade II listed building. Main construction periods 1802 to 1822 Two pre-19th century deneholes which in 1812 were converted into an ice house. Marked as Dungeons on the 3rd Ed OS map. situated within the grounds of Clock House in the hamlet of Green Street Green. The icehouse was constructed in 1812 for the then owner of Clock House, Thomas Edmeades.

Monument Types

• DENE HOLE (DENE HOLE, Unknown date)
• ICEHOUSE (Post Medieval to Modern - 1812 AD to 2050 AD)

Full description

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The following text is from the original listed building designation:
1. 5274 DARENTH GREEN STREET GREEN ROAD (south-west side) Green Street Green
Ice House in grounds of Clock House approximately 150 m to south-west of the house TQ 57 SE 4/10
II
2. Circa 1812. Access is gained through a door set in a stone facade. Above the door are the initials TE and the date 1812. Thomas Edmeades was an owner of Clock House. A staircase leads downwards for 17 ft and turns into a passageway. On the right hand side the doorway opens at high level into an ice storing well. To the left a passage continues to a cold storage chamber. A second staircase, under the entrance staircase leads to the floor of the ice well, the well has a diameter of 14 ft and is of brick. The upper portion is domed and pierced by a shaft to the surface. The cold storage chamber was used for game and meat storage. The floor is paved with bricks and the rendered walls are lime washed. There are 38 slots in the walls which held the supports for a circular shelf. Higher up the walls are other slots and heavy iron rails probably used for suspending game and meat. [see Archaeologia Cantiana 1975]. Listing NGR: TQ5858670676 (1)

Description from record TQ 57 SE 35:
['A' TQ 58527056: 'B' TQ 58537055] Deneholes [NR] (Sites of)(2)

Within the private grounds of Clock House, Green Street Green, are two deneholes, the shafts of which were enlarged in the early 19th c., and bricked around to form icehouses. The shafts are now filled in, but a flight of steps, which led down between them, remains. Over the entrance is the date 1812 and the initials TE. On the stairway a stone inscribed 'ED 1674' refers to Edmund Davenport, owner of Clock House at that time, and probably comes from the house which incorporates parts of an earlier building.(2)(3)(a) An "L" shaped barrel vaulted passageway runs north westward. To the circular cold storage room. The brick paved, dome ceilinged, circular cold storage room has a diameter of around 3m and 3.9m high. A band of 38 slots cut into the walls would have held supports for a wooden shelf. An unpaved area in the floor would have allowed melting ice to drain back into the ground. At around mid hieght in the eastern side of the wall is the square headed entrance to an approximately 4.6m ong, westward running storage room, the brick vaulting of which has partly collapsed.. Above ground, the ventilation and loading shafts are capped by iron grills sset in square brick heads which stand around 0.6m high.

From the National Heritage List for England:
The monument includes an early 19th century icehouse situated within the grounds of Clock House in the hamlet of Green Street Green, around 5km south east of Dartford. The icehouse was constructed in 1812 for the then owner of
Clock House, Thomas Edmeades.

The almost entirely subterranean, red brick structure was adapted from two pre-existing deneholes which were enlarged to accommodate the circular ice chamber and its associated cold storage room. The icehouse is entered through an above ground, north west facing wooden door with a classical, ashlar-faced, pedimented surround. On the fascia above the door are the initials TE and the date 1812. A steep flight of stairs leads down to a high-level opening in the ice chamber, allowing access to the ice when the chamber was full. An `L'- shaped, barrel vaulted passageway runs north westwards to the circular cold storage room, used for preserving meat, game and other perishable foods. The passage vaulting is pierced by a ventilation shaft which rises to the ground surface. A small recess in the wall beside the doorway into the cold storage room was designed to hold a lamp. The brick paved, dome ceilinged, circular
cold storage room has a diameter of around 3m and is 3.9m high. The walls retain some of their original lime-washed, rendered finish. A band of 38 slots cut radially into the walls held the supports for a wooden shelf, since removed, and high on the wall are iron nail hooks used for suspending game. Further ventilation is provided by an air shaft rising from the centre of the ceiling. A second staircase leads from the passageway down to the floor of the
ice chamber. This has a diameter of around 4.25m and is 5.9m high, with an ice loading shaft rising to the ground surface from the centre of the domed ceiling. The partly brick paved chamber floor has a central unpaved area
through which the melting ice could drain into the natural Thanet Sand subsoil. Two bands of plain moulding project from the walls, the upper stages of which are rendered. Two large corbels at the level of the lower moulding
supported a removeable wooden beam, which has not survived. The position of a now removed, mid-height wooden gallery is indicated by a number of recessed settings in the wall. These features aided access to the ice as it was being
loaded and as it melted. Also at around mid-height in the eastern side of the wall is the square headed entrance to an approximately 4.6m long, westward running store room, the brick vaulting of which has partly collapsed. This is
interpreted as storage for the wooden access beam. Above ground, the ventilation and loading shafts are capped by iron grilles set in square brick heads which stand around 0.6m high.

Local oral tradition mistakenly identified the icehouse as a prison cell or dungeon, and the now partly collapsed passage as a secret tunnel to Clock House.

ASSESSMENT OF IMPORTANCE
Icehouses are subterranean structures designed specifically to store ice, usually removed in winter from ponds and used in the summer for preserving food and cooling drinks. Thousands of icehouses have been built in England
since the early 17th century. These were initially built only by the upper level of society, but by the end of the 18th century they were commonplace. They continued to be built throughout the 19th century, when huge examples
were established by the fishing industry, as well as for use in towns. Icehouses only became obsolete after the introduction of domestic refrigerators in the early 20th century.

Of the thousands originally built, some 1500 icehouses have been positively identified through a combination of archaeological and documentary research. Although a relatively common class, most recorded examples with surviving
remains will be considered to be of national interest and appropriate for consideration for either scheduling or listing. They are also generally regarded as a significant component of local distinctiveness and character.

The icehouse at Clock House is a particularly unusual and elaborate example of an early 19th century icehouse, illustrating the increasing popularity of ice storage amongst the gentry and the professional and merchant classes at
this time. It survives well, retaining its original outer door and some internal fixtures. (1)

Situated in the grounds of 'Clock House,' and known as 'The Dungeons' on OS maps as far back as 1909. An elaborate icehouse comprising a well and associated cold-storage chamber connected by staircases and an L-shaped passageway. The initials 'T.E.' and the date '1812' are inscribed above the doorway, denoting a former owner of Clock House, Thomas Edmeades. The opening to the well has iron hasps fixed to the wall, and the interior of the well is constructed of brick and is domed. The top half of brickwork is rendered in plaster and white-washed. The floor is not entirely paved, allowing for drainage. Also present are two large corbels which probably supported a heavy wood beam spanning the well. An additional opening, apart from the passageway, is now partially choked with sand and its vaulting collapsed. This opening may have been used to accomodate the cross beam when loading ice down the shaft. Listed grade II. (6)

<1> English Heritage, List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest (Map). SKE16160.

<2> O.S. 25" 1962 (OS Card Reference). SKE47813.

<3> F1 ASP 10-DEC-64 (OS Card Reference). SKE42031.

<4> Inf: Mrs. G. Dickson, Clock House, Green Street Green. (OS Card Reference). SKE44435.

<5> Hist. of Kent, 1799, 3, 272 (E. Hasted). (OS Card Reference). SKE44067.

<6> Field report for monument TQ 57 SE 35 - December, 1964 (Bibliographic reference). SKE3073.

<7> Roaf, S. & Beamon, S. P., 1990, The Ice Houses of Britain (Monograph). SKE8293.

Sources and further reading