Arched Stone Structures and Ice House to the rear of No 34A Lodge Drive

This complex of arched stone structures and an ice house was built around 1793 for George Benson Strutt as part of the Bridge Hill House estate. The structures are constructed from gritstone masonry with brick internal walls and brick vaulting.

The ensemble consists of three parallel vaulted chambers arranged from north-east to south-west, connected by a passage to an integral ice house extending from the south-western end.

The front façade is symmetrical, with three bays, each featuring a wide opening with wooden double doors set beneath a shallow segmental arch constructed from stone voussoirs. Shallow pilasters define the bay divisions. The frontage is topped by shallow ashlar copings that gently step downwards towards the centre.

The central and right-hand bays provide access to deep, semi-circular brick vaults. These now have concrete floors and lightweight, 21st-century partitions in the rear sections, but originally had earth floors and no fittings or partitions. The left-hand bay remains largely unaltered, containing a shorter vault with a brickwork partition and an opening leading to a small antechamber and a short passage to a well-preserved hemispherical brick ice house chamber. The ice house entrance features stone quoining and a lintel that originally divided the tall opening to allow access for loading and emptying at different levels. A loading opening covered with a pierced metal plate is located at the top of the curved dome of the ice house, and a drain hole is in the centre of the chamber’s floor.

The structures are of national importance, representing the architectural quality and historical connection to the Strutt family, a significant industrial dynasty of the Derwent Valley. They represent a well-preserved example of storage facilities predating refrigeration and canning, combining different storage types in a single complex.