Station Name: YARMOUTH SOUTH TOWN
The surviving icehouse, seen here in April 2011, standing in what was the north-east corner of Yarmouth South Town goods yard and close to Haven Bridge, which is just out of view to the right. The former Railway Hotel (now a pizza joint), Station Road, some former railway cottages, some length of wall along Southtown Road excepted, the icehouse is now the only surviving structure which has a tangible link to the railway at Southtown. The building is of gault brick with thatched roof and has eight bays on both north and south sides. It is Grade II listed, acquiring this status in December 1976, and is English Heritage Legacy ID No.468432. The building was restored in 1990 by Messrs Olley & Haward. As of 2017 part of the cobbled approach from Bridge Road can still be seen. Maps show two structures side by side but only one, that from 1887, marks both as being icehouses. The second structure had stood to the left of the building seen here and a railway siding ran between the two, alongside the buttressed wall in other words. When the goods yard was still in use this view was blocked by further, very narrow, structures on the quayside and these, too, were rail-connected albeit via the awkward wagon turntable system. The purpose of these narrow quayside structures, of which there were three, is unknown although they are known to have been used for timber traffic in later years. The age of the surviving icehouse is unclear. English Heritage records it only as being early nineteenth century and railway company Minutes are muddied by the map showing two icehouses. It is quite possible that one icehouse predated the other, especially as plans show the two structures as not being identical. However, fish does not stay fresh for very long if not cooled and it was not practical to transport fish to far away markets until the coming of the railways. Given this it is reasonable to assume the icehouse, or both if indeed there were two, dated from railway days. The modern building left background is a Matalan store. This and its car parking, delivery bays and so on now occupy much of the former goods yard site
Photo by Evelyhn Simak reproduced from Geograph under creative commons licence  Home Page
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