<P> Ice houses or icehouses are buildings used to store ice throughout the year, commonly used prior to the invention of the refrigerator . Some were underground chambers, usually man - made, close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes, but many were buildings with various types of insulation . </P> <P> During the winter, ice and snow would be cut from lakes or rivers and taken into the ice house and packed with insulation, often straw or sawdust . It would remain frozen for many months, often until the following winter, and could be used as a source of ice during summer months . The main application of the ice was the storage of foods, but it could also be used simply to cool drinks, or allow ice - cream and sorbet desserts to be prepared . During its heyday a typical commercial ice house would store 2,700 tonnes (3,000 short tons) in a 30 - by - 100 - foot (9 by 30 m) and 14 - metre - high (45 ft) building . </P> <P> A cuneiform tablet from c. 1780 BC records the construction of an icehouse in the northern Mesopotamian town of Terqa by Zimri - Lim, the King of Mari, "which never before had any king built ." In China, archaeologists have found remains of ice pits from the seventh century BC, and references suggest they were in use before 1100 BC . Alexander the Great around 300 BC stored snow in pits dug for that purpose . In Rome in the third century AD, snow was imported from the mountains, stored in straw - covered pits, and sold from snow shops . The ice formed in the bottom of the pits sold at a higher price than the snow on top . </P>

How did they make ice in victorian times
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