A PROJECT to conserve an historic ice house in the New Forest is under way.

National Park archaeologists are using high-tech methods to explore what life was like before fridges and freezers were invented.

Before refrigeration, many country estate owners used ice houses to chill liquid, keep food fresh and even produce ice cream.

These buildings were partly underground and kept cool by ice imported from abroad or cut from local lakes in the winter.

There are 10 ice houses in the New Forest and archaeologists have begun their work to conserve them by commissioning heritage technology firm Archaeovision to produce a laser scan animation of the ice house on Beaulieu Estate.

The animation will help them repair the ice house and act as an educational tool for local schoolchildren.