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The ice house adjacent to the Observatory in Greenwich Park

The early 1600s were an important period in the development of Greenwich Park. The building of the Queen's House commenced in 1617 and in 1619, building work began to replace the two-mile long wooden fence surrounding the Park with a high brick wall. At about the same time, at least one ice house (possibly two) was constructed within the Park. In the historic literature this was more generally referred to as a snow conserve or snow well.

Although it does nor record any locations, The History of the Kings's Works, vol 4 (1963) does record the following:

'Also in the Park was a snow conserve. Built in 1619-1620, this consisted of a bricked-out well 30 feet deep and 16 feet across, with a thatched timber house with a door. The thantchers also provided 'waddes', presumably for insulation. A second,small, conserve was dug in 1621-2. One of these conserves had its 'bottome floore' and 'uppermoste floore' new made in 1625-6. This suggest a bottom floor raised over a sump and an upper floor to carry the wads (presumably of straw.' (link).

What is known for certain is that an ice house existed close to where the Observatory was constructed in 1675/6. Its presence and location is recorded in several of the Observatory's records including:

• An engraving made soon after the Observatory was founded
• Published and unpublished site plans (mainly nineteenth century)
• Correspondence with the Chief Commissioner of Parks

Its presence is also recorded in the financial accounts relating to the landscaping of the Park in the 1660s. Some information about the building of the Park wall can be found in the Calendar of state papers, Domestic series, of the reign of James I, 1619 –1623.

 

The Francis Place etching c.1677

The foundation stone of the Royal Observatory was laid on 10 August 1675 and in July 1676, the first Astronomer Royal, John Flamsteed, took up residence. About a year later, or perhaps the year after that, Robert Thacker, an employee of the Board of Ordnance, made a series of drawings of the Observatory and its instruments. Although the drawings are now thought lost, contemporary etchings made from them by Francis Place survive in small numbers. There are 12 in total, including two that show views of the Park as seen from the roof of Flamsteed House. One of these, Prospectus Australis (which is looking southwards), includes the entrance to the ice-house.

 

The financial accounts relating to the landscaping of the Park in the 1660s

The 1660s were a hive of activity in and around the Park. In 1661, Charles II ordered the demolition of the now derelict Tudor Palace. John Webb was commissioned to design a new one and repair and enlarge the Queen’s House. Work started on the Queen’s House in August 1661 and on constructing the new Palace (now the Old Royal Naval College) in 1663. In 1661, work also began on re-landscaping the Park. This work, which began under the supervision of William Boreman, (whose financial accounts cover the period 1 September 1661 to 10 June 1662) followed by Adrian May who was also overseeing the landscaping of Hampton Court and St Jame's Park. The fiancial accoundt for the period 1663(?)–1670(?) were presented by Hugh May on behalf of his recently deceased brother and copies can be found in the following two locations at the National Archives: E351/3431 &  AO1/2481/292. The transformation of the Park from a hunting ground to the formal layout of tree lined avenues, the giant steps and the partially completed partere that we see today was largely completed during this time. May's accounts make the following reference to the ice house:

'The Charge of makeing the Snowhill Walk viz To the said Edward Maybanke and Thomas Greene according to ... [to be continued]

 

The 1697 map of Greenwich Park by Samuel Travers showing Snow Hill Walk

Click here to read more about the original Travers map and the 1816 copies.

 

Plans of the Observatory that show the location of the ice house

There are only two plans that the Observatory published that show the full extent of the ice house. The first, which shows the state of the Observatory in December 1846 was published in 1847 as an appendix to the 1845 volume of Greenwich Observations. The second was an updated version that was published in 1863 as an appendix in the 1862 volume of Greenwich Observations. The 1847 plan derives from a series of sketch plans that Airy began to draw soon after his arrival as Astronomer Royal in 1835. One dated 14 June 1836 is the first to show the ice house (RGO6/54/15). However, it only shows the tunnel-like entrance which is labelled 'fountain'. The second (RGO6/54/17) is a coloured plan and carries the date of July 1837. Titled 'Plan of the ground inclosed in the spring of the year 1837 for the Royal Observatory, it appears to show not only the entrance, but also an underground tunnel leading directly away from it measuring roughly 10 by 45 feet in total. The third is an undated plan of the grounds (RGO6/54/57) which was probably drawn in 1846 as it bears a close similarity to the grounds as shown on the published plan of 1847.

Between 1885 and 1911 a new series of five site plans (scale of 66 feet = 1 inch) were published. Dated: 1885 (RGO7/50), 1891(WORK16/139), 1896 (WORK 16/139 & 16/1823), c.1905 (WORK17/369) and 1911 (WORK16/637) they all appear to derive from large scale town plans published by the Ordnance Survey, though only that of 1911 actually states that it was prepared and printed by the Ordnance Survey Office. Each of the plans show the entrance tunnel into the ice house, which is labelled reservoir and is shown carrying a bench mark at its northern end. By 1899 the entrance to the ice house had clearly been demolished as one copy the 1896 plan in WORK 16/139 has an extension to the path along the western boundary of the Observatory drawn in by hand and  running right over the top of it. In the two later plans (c.1905 & 1911), the ice house was not removed before the path was added, so they too show its position relative to the path. The Historic England Research Records (see below) record that this extension was suggested as a park improvement in 1894. For those seeking to examine the site, it is on the bend just beyond a small padlocked gate in the railings bordering the left side of the path as you walk up it from the Avenue. The approximate gps coordinates for the centre of the entrance tunnel are 51^o28'38"N, 0^o00'07"W (51.47718, -0.00176).

The same tunnel entrance and bench mark can be seen on the first three of the following large scale Ordnance Survey town plans. The mid-1890s path extension can be seen in the fourth one. On the 1871 edition, the structure is also marked reservoir.

	Scale	Surveyed	Revised	Published
	1:5280	1848-50	-	c.1851	link
	1:1056	1867	-	1871	link
	1:1056		1893	1895	link
	1:1250	1950	-	1951	link

 

Airy's correspondence with the Superintendent of the Park

On 30 May 1860, Airy wrote to the Chief Commissioner of Parks about the problems he was having with ‘boys and idle people’ climbing the mound which covered the wall of the ice house and throwing stones into his garden despite the fact that he had raised the fence in the vicinity. He went on to ask if a fence of palings could be erected either round the base of the mound or half-way up it, and fitted with spikes or tenter hooks to prevent people from climbing over it. Although steps were taken to alleviate the problem; instead of taking up Airy’s suggestion, thorn and briar stakes were driven into the top of the mound and a sign erected cautioning the public against throwing stones in the Park (RGO6/49). The stakes appear to have had the desired effect, but clearly needed a degree of maintenance as on 27 March of the following year Airy wrote again asking if ‘the thorn defence’ could be reinstated and preferably before Easter Day. The urgency is interesting as it suggests that many people still came to Greenwich at Easter, despite the fact that the notorious Greenwich Fair, which had traditionally begun on Easter Monday, had been banned after the fair of 1857.

Today, much of the lower garden is laid to lawn with the lower area having been leveled. This leveling appears to have happened when Dyson became the new Astronomer Royal in 1910 and seems to have involved building a retaining wall at the bottom of the slope and building up the ground level.

 

Angus Webster – the spreader of false information and confusion

In 1902, Angus Webster, the Superintendent of Greenwich Park published his book Greenwich Park: its history and associations. Experience has shown that much of what Webster says needs to be taken with a pinch of salt. Unfortunately, that did not stop the Royal Parks taking him at his word when the Giant Steps were recreated during the winter of 2023/24. Likewise he did he give anything remotely like the correct date for a map of the park originally published in 1749, when he said it was published in 'about 1695. Nor was he at all clear about where the ice house by the Observatory actually was. Although there is no excuse for what he said about the trees at the end of the Giant Steps or the map, although he must have known exactly where the ice house was, he may well have had good reason not to be too explicit for fear that individuals might attempt to access it and end up hurting themselves. What he ended up doing was leading historians on a wild goose chase as they attempted to locate it. This is what he had to say:

'[P.18/19]  In an artificial hollow about midway between the Observatory and Crooms Hill, and hard by the road which intersects the ancient burial-ground, there is an old well, called the Snow Well, about 26 feet deep, the lower half lined with 16th century bricks, and near the surface with those of more recent date. At 4 feet from the bottom a small passage, about 4½ feet high and 30 inches wide, leads in the direction of St. Mary's gate. It was in this hollow that the post, or triangle, on which offenders were flogged, formerly stood, and which was in frequent use up to a late period. Although the hollow referred to is artificial, it is evidently of ancient date, as the oak trees growing on the slope of the hollow – which is much below the Park level –  are at least 250 years old. In all probability the well was in use when the old and disused road (which was evidently at early times the principal thoroughfare through the Park) was in general use by the natives of Blackheath and Greenwich.

'[p.36/7] One Tree Hill was called " Sand Hill," and that on the west of the Observatory " Snow Hill," from the Snow Well there. From 1730 until 1850 the Park was much neglected. In 1854, the keeper's lodge, mentioned above, was taken down and the site thrown into the Park. The avenues were levelled and gravelled, and the steps on the Observatory Hill repaired; while the ice-house, on the same hill, has been filled in.

 

Historic England research records

The Historic England Research Records for the Snow Well draw heavily on Webster and need updating with the information from the Observatory records above. Towards the end of the record the following is recorded:

'An ice house of 1619-20 is very early in date and if it survived would be of considerable interest. Its appearance might have resembled the much later circa 1840 ice house at Scotney Castle, Lamberhurst (Grade II) which, unusually (and perhaps comparably), has a conical thatched roof. Unfortunately no trace of this structure was visible above ground in 1994 when the RCHME Greenwich Park Archaeological Survey was undertaken and it does not appear on any maps of the park.'

 

Greenwich Park Revealed

In September 2020, planning permission was granted for the Greenwich Park Revealed project. Part of the project involved archeological investigations in various parts of the Park. Initially, those running the project were keen to find the location of the ice house(s). They were unaware of the evidence in the Observatory records until March 2022 when this author shared them. Although it was hoped at the time that some sort of archaeological investigation might take place in 2023 or 2024, enthusiasm waned following the arrival of a new Park manager in April 2023. At the time of writing (June 2025), no investigation has taken place and the Greenwich Revealed Project has come to an end.

 

Acknowledgements and Image licensing

The Francis Place etching is reproduced under an Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license, courtesy of the The Trustees of the British Museum. It has been cropped and recompressed.

Prospectus Australis: Museum number: 1865,0610.951.

The plan of the Observatory grounds as they existed in December 1846 is reproduced courtesy of Bayerischen Staatsbibliothek under a No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only licence. It is taken from the 1845 volume of Greenwich Observations published in 1847. Key