Icehouse in the Abbey Grounds

This intriguing mound in the Abbey Grounds is the remains of  an icehouse  - presumably a remnant from the old Georgian mansion demolished in the '60s.  It is firmly walled up, so hard to know what there is of it left.

When did this go out of use, I wonder?  Were people still breaking ice and shovelling snow for cold drinks a hundred years ago? It was a good life for the few, but for the rest so very labour-intensive!

There is a much more splendid icehouse in Cirencester Park but, alas, it is not normally open to the public.  We took this photograph at a charity Open Gardens Day in 2010:

The mound which forms Lord Bathurst's icehouse is actually a massive Neolithic barrow!

The mound is traditionally called  Grismond's Tower, possibly after the Viking "Gurmond" who, legend has it, set fire to Cirencester in 879 using firebrands attached to sparrows (!).

This 2014 paper by Timothy Darvill has all the details.

Gloucestershire Historic Environment Record