Where in the past blocks of ice from the canal of a castle the home -brewed beer kept cool, you can now look inside again at this special piece of heritage. A rare ice cellar from the 19th century was reopened in Mill on Wednesday afternoon. The basement was hidden under a layer of earth for years, but was carefully restored thanks to the Heemkundekring Myllesheem. “I think it’s great that it’s still there,” says chairman Pieter Verstraaten proudly.
The piece of heritage in a park on Oranjeboomstraat has been restored to its former year after a year of renovation. The basement of about two meters high, three and a half meters wide and four meters long has had particularly many functions over the years. For example, it was a storage, ice cellar, play area and even a hiding place in the war.
“I checked it, the space was built in 1813. There was then a farm at this place,” says Rob Vloet of the Heemkundekring about the origin. “It was a basement under the house. After that it was rebuilt in 1855 and in 1870 the farm was demolished again. But they left the basement.”
“Because it always remains the same temperature here.”
Years later, the plot came into the hands of Boterkoopman and stone manufacturer Jan van Lieshout. In 1890 he built a villa right next to the basement. “He brewed his own beer as a hobby. The butter and the beer had to be cooled and that is why he converted the basement into an ice cellar. That was the only way to keep something cool at the time.”
“Because it always remains the same temperature here,” adds Pieter Verstraaten. According to him, the fact that it is cooler in the basement is partly because the space is underground and there are many trees around it for extra shade. To reduce the temperature slightly, large blocks of ice were placed in the basement. “They got it in the winter at the castle further on.”
The ice came from the canals of Aldendriel Castle and from the Pisla house. As a result, the temperature in the ice cellar also remained fresh in the summer, even though there was no ice. “The soil was made of sand, so that the cold melt water could pull into the ground. That made it cool for a long time.”
The ice cellar was used until around 1930 and during the Second World War it served as a shelter. The time after that the basement remained empty. “It was a private property, but villagers regularly went in regularly,” says Rob Vloet. “We didn’t know that at that time. We called playing.”
Over the years, the former ice cellar became increasingly in decline until the local history circle came with the idea of renovating the piece of heritage. “Demolition is easy and ten years later nobody knows that it was there anymore. We try to keep as much as possible and that has now succeeded with the help of the municipality.”
“No beer this time, but an ice cream cart, because it is and remains an ice cellar.”
A hard work was done on the monument for a year. “I think it’s great that it is still there,” says Rob. An opinion that also shares Pieter with him. “It is ‘Sund’ to demolish, because there are no more ice cellars anymore. It is something unique. We want to make people look inside.”
The ice cellar gets an educational and cultural function, although the gentlemen have devised a playful delicacy for the reopening. “No beer this time, but an ice cream cart, because it is and remains an ice cellar.”
