Tucked away in the grounds of Croxteth Hall you'll find a fascinating hidden room that offers us a look back at the way we used to live.
The Grade II listed building was once used as an ice store by the Molyneux family up until the second half of the 19th century when refrigeration took over and ice began being imported into the UK.
Typically an ice house was a domed shaped structure built out of brick and buried half way underground to help with insulation.
With an unusual igloo-style entrance, the ice house has become known to guests of Croxteth Hall as a whole host of different names over the years including the 'the witch's house' and 'the Hansel and Gretel house'.
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However, many people are unaware of the history it holds with some mistaking it as an air raid shelter.
Today ice is something we take for granted as it is readily available to us thanks to our fridge freezers.
But long before refrigeration was invented the only way to obtain it was by relying on the ice that formed in ponds and other pools of water in winter and cold weather.
During this time, servants of country estates like Croxteth would head out and hack away at the ice before taking it back to the ice house and covering it with layers of straw and sacking to keep it cold and frozen.
It's thought that ice houses first came to the UK in around the year 1660 and were usually only seen in the grounds of large manor houses.
Other examples of ice houses still exist across the country today including at Petworth House in Sussex and Ashton Court in Bristol.
However, others have sadly fallen into a state of disrepair or have subsequently been demolished.
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