In Britain the practice of storing ice in specially constructed chambers was started in the 17th century and continued up to the early 20th century. At first ice was collected exclusively from local ponds and lakes and was placed in the private Ice Houses of large estates where, if properly insulated, it would last the year through. These Ice Houses were usually built partly or wholly below ground, typically with a cylindrical pit of about 3 metres in diameter and 6 metres deep with a domed top. An entrance passage, horizontal or with steps leading down was often used for access and occasionally a loading shaft through the top. Materials used were usually brick but other local materials such as clunch, sandstone and flint rubble were also used. An Ice House of a much larger character at Petworth House was described in Sussex Industrial History No. 13, (1983), pp. 15 - 21 by the author. The expressions 'Ice Well' and 'Ice House' are synonymous.

Within the present Borough of Brighton there were several private Ice Houses that are known to date from the 18th or early 19th century, as follows

The Commercial Ice Trade up to 1854
During the first half of the 19th century the increase in numbers of middle and upper class residents and visitors to the town created a demand for ice and a commercial ice trade developed to cater for this. The sources of supply of this ice are uncertain but there might well have been active trading down the east coast of England from the Norfolk Broads. It is known that ice was being imported into London from Norway by the 1850s. 12 There are no obvious local sources to satisfy such a demand. Old Steine was reputedly marshy until drained in 1792, Queen's Park Lake was not created until the 1880s and apart from several small ponds at Falmer, Rottingdean and in Stanmer Park, the only other local stretches of open water were storage reservoirs. In 1962, when an electricity substation was being erected close to the Islingword Road Reservoir (at TQ 322050) a structure was discovered and from drawings prepared at that time, this appears to have been a large Ice House. 13 Its juxtaposition to the reservoir suggests that ice was taken therefrom, but as the level of the water would have been fluctuating daily, the formation of ice on the surface would have been inhibited.

There were Ice Houses in Brighton during the first half of the nineteenth century at the following locationsc:

There are records of Ice Merchants at the following locations:

Importation of Ice
As mentioned above, Ice had been imported from Norway into London from the 1850s. There are records of ice imports into Sussex, at Shoreham from 1873 to 1915 and at Newhaven from 1887. 16 It is not known whether either of these dates represents the start of the trade, but it is significant that the  number of Ice Merchants in Brighton increases sharply from the 1870s. onward. The tonnages of ice imported into Shoreham are shown in figure 3. The trade effectively ceased during World War 1. 17

Detailed records of shipments at Shoreham Harbour from January 1901, 18 show that over this period ice was carried in steamers of 250 to 350 tons mainly of Norwegian ownership from Drobak, Christiania (now Oslo), Porsgrund, Brevik and other ports in what is now Oslo Sound. The round trip normally took about 2½ to 3 weeks with continuous shipments being made between about February and November. Sometimes return trips were made via north-east England where, presumably a cargo of coal was loaded. Ice was usualy unloaded at Baltic Wharf 19 where there were timber storage sheds, now replaced, and also brick built stores at the edge of Wellington Road which had arched basements under and which still exist. Samuel Larkin & Co. is listed in the directories as having premises at Baltic Wharf between 1889 and 1903 and Mowatt Ltd. in Wellington Road between 1908 and 1915. Both these firms had other premises in the centre of Brighton. 4

Figure 3. Annual Import of Ice to Shoreham.

At Newhaven ice was imported in sailing ships. It was stored in timber storage sheds in Meeching Chalk Quarry owned by Messrs. Colgate and Gray. 4, 17 Access between the quay and the quarry was by use of the Duke of Sheffield's tramway using horse drawn tipper wagons which were also used for carting chalk for cargo or ballast from the quarry. These sheds were used for ice storage until World War 1, the blocks of ice being kept separated with wooden battens. Unloading from the store was from the upper level using horse and cart. 17

From 1879 ice has been manufactured locally. The 'Kent and Sussex Pure Ice Company' had a plant along Portland Road, Portslade and advertised "Pure Ice Made from Celebrated Goldstone Water, Fresh every Day from the Factory - Private Families can be Supplied Daily". 6

The quantity of ice used during this period was quite substantial. The total imported through Shoreham in the peak year of 1901 was 11,115 tons 19 Allowing for ice being also imported through Newhaven, and for some being manufactured, this represents the contents of more than 400 Ice Houses of average size, although how many times each one would have been refilled during the season is purely speculation.

References
1. Yeakell and Gardner, Map of Brightelmstone, (1779)
2. East Sussex Record Office, SAS BRI 115.
3. East Sussex Record Office, SAS BRI 124.
4. Folthorp's, Page's, Pike's and Kelly's Directories of Brighton and Hove District.
5. Brighton Council, Rate Books., (1834, 1839, 1840, 1854, 1874/75, 1884) in Brighton Reference Library.
6. Page, Street Directory of Brighton Hove and District, (1879)
7. Clifford Musgrave, Royal Pavilion, (1959), p. 19.
8. John Nash, Map of Royal Pavilion Estate, (1822), reproduced in John Dinkel, The Royal Pavilion Brighton, (1983), p. 75.
9. S. Farrant, Physical Development of the Royal Pavilion Estate, (1982), Sussex Archaeological Collections Volume 120, pp. 177, 178.
10. Ibid, p. 180.
11. Information from Mr. Owen Williams.
12. Prof. Tore Ouren, The Norwegian Ice Trade, National Maritime Museum, Maritime Monographs and Reports No. 49 - 1981, P. 31.
13. The Waterwheel, house magazine of Brighton Waterworks Department (now Southern Water Authority), Dec. 1962, pp. 4 and 5 and Feb. 1963, p. 6 also drawing prepared by Engineering Department, in author's possession.
14. Information from Mr. Richard Braybon.
15. Public Records Office, PRO Class Customs 23, (1873 - 1885).
16. Newhaven Port, Trade Returns, documents no longer available, information from J.H. Farrant.
17.. Information from Mr. Peter Bailey and Mr. Robert Holden at Newhaven Harbour Museum.
18. Shoreham Port Authority, Trade Returns made by Shoreham Harbour Trustees (1880 -1914).
19. Shoreham Port Authority, Arrivals and Departures Ledger, (1901 - 1915).

© R. G. Martin 1984 - 2001
This item originally appeared in Sussex Industrial History No.14 1984/5 and is used with kind permission of the author.