Ice House At Wycombe Abbey

The ice house at Wycombe Abbey is a Grade II listed structure, likely built in 1764 by Capability Brown for the Earl of Shelburne. It features an earth-covered, brick-built design and is accompanied by a screen wall, which was probably constructed around 1804 by James Wyatt for Lord Carrington. The screen wall is made of flint with a Denner Hill stone centerpiece.

The ice house has a central entrance with a four-centre arch that has been bricked up and covered by a board door from around 1985. The archway and the flanking piers are made of stone with galleted joints, and the piers have chamfered plinths and capstones. Above the door, there is a flint parapet with a chamfered stone offset and coping. The slightly curved flanking walls feature shallow, pointed-arched niches and end-piers with pyramidal finials, all constructed from flint, although the upper part of the right-hand pier is missing.

Inside, the ice house is said to have a brick-lined tunnel leading to a chamber with a domed vault, while the pit is filled in with chalk. This mid-18th century ice house is notable for its unusual and attractive early 19th century screen wall.