Ice-House, Oxenfoord Castle

This is a late 18th century icehouse located on the Oxenfoord Castle estate. It is a rectangular structure featuring an ashlar lintel with long and short rybats, a rubble sandstone passage, and a yellow sandstone ice chamber.

The east-facing principal elevation has a central entrance doorway with an ashlar lintel and long and short quoins. Curved rubble wing walls flank the doorway. Originally, there were two timber entrance doors, which are now missing. The roof of the ice chamber was formerly arched and constructed of parallel courses of yellow sandstone blocks running east to west; only a partial section remains in the west end.

The interior consists of a passage leading to a rectangular stone chamber, with a partial roof still in place. The passage is just over 3 feet wide, extends for 7 feet, and leads to an inner door. The ice chamber itself is 15 feet 5 inches wide and nearly 27 feet long. Originally, the chamber had a stone roof, approximately a foot thick, with a layer of cement between the stone and the soil above.

The icehouse functioned as part of the estate until the middle of the 19th century, when country houses generally ceased to use them. It was built above ground, utilizing a natural mound which was then planted with fir and sycamore trees. The entrance is situated at the east end of the mound and stands approximately 5 feet high. The icehouse is situated on the driveway leading from the North Lodge to the main house. It has been cited in historical publications including Rev J Dickson’s Cranstoun: A Parish History, The Book of the Old Edinburgh Club, C McWilliam’s Lothian, Sylvia Beamon and Susan Roaf’s Icehouses of Britain, Tim Buxbaum’s Icehouses, and J Thomas's Midlothian.