The Ice House in Great Yarmouth has taken centre of the ring this week, throwing open its brand-new doors to welcome the public inside as part of celebrations for the annual Out There Festival. This follows a £3 million transformation that has seen it converted into a National Centre for Outdoor Arts and Circus.
Image: Raising the flag to celebrate the opening of The Ice House.
Built between 1851 and 1892, The Ice House is a Grade II-listed building situated on the historic Great Yarmouth South Quay. It was originally used to store freshly caught seafood that would then be transported to London's Billingsgate fish market. In the mid-19th century, the landmark building was at the forefront of an industrial revolution that saw the town’s fortunes soar. As modern technologies advanced, however, The Ice House fell into disuse, serving for some time as a grain store. It is now the only building of its kind left in the country and a prominent survivor of the herring fishing industry that once dominated the town.
Now, thanks to Out There Arts’ imaginative and creative reuse of The Ice House, the building has been opened up to the community as an arts, heritage and circus training hub, enabling the local charity – which already hosts and supports the delivery of circus, street arts projects, and events – to expand its activities even further.
Image: People inside The Ice House, celebrating its opening. Credit - JMA Photography.
The building has been restored in a way that preserves its historic character. Internally, it has been repaired and retained as a single, undivided and fully accessible multi-use space that will host a dynamic cultural programme of live music, theatre, exhibitions, immersive arts experiences, and private events. It will also offer a pop-up café bar. Additionally, a first-floor mezzanine leads out to a balcony overlooking the river, referencing the original high-level external platform that once provided access for loading ice into the building.
Image: The interior of The Ice House, including the first-floor mezzanine (left) and the pop-up café bar (right).
The Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) supported this project from an early stage, initially awarding Out There Arts a Project Viability Grant in 2018 to enable the charity to explore potential options for the reuse of The Ice House. In subsequent years, multiple grants were awarded through the Transforming Places through Heritage programme, supported by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This included two Project Development Grants, awarded in 2019 and 2020, to develop plans for the building’s future, as well as a Transformational Project Grant in 2022, which helped Out There Arts to acquire the building, undertake external repairs and re-thatching of the roof, and install essential electricity and water connections.
Alongside the AHF, this project also attracted further funding from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Towns Deal funding, Arts Council England and Brineflow. With the support of these partners, Out There Arts’ vision for this historic building has been realised.
From left to right: Matthew Mckeague, Chief Executive of the AHF, Jennifer Cleary, Director of Combined Arts at Arts Council England, Joe Mackintosh, Chief Executive of Out There Arts, Councillor Carl Annison, Mayor of Great Yarmouth, and Graham Plant from Great Yarmouth Borough Council. Credit - JMA Photography.
The transformation of The Ice House into a National Centre for Outdoor Arts and Circus marks a significant step towards developing Great Yarmouth’s reputation as the capital of circus in the UK and strengthens the link between the town’s fishing and circus heritage. It has also provided an exciting new cultural hub in a significant historic building that the local community can now access and enjoy year-round for many more generations to come.
Matthew Mckeague, Chief Executive of The Architectural Heritage Fund, said: “It was a pleasure to be at the grand opening of The Ice House in Great Yarmouth to celebrate its transformation into the National Centre for Outdoor Arts and Circus. We have supported this project from an early stage, providing grants for viability, development and capital work to the Grade II building, and it’s brilliant to see Out There Arts’ imaginative vision for the building come to life, providing a vibrant new arts and cultural venue in the town.”
The AHF’s £5 million Heritage Revival Fund is now open. Delivered in partnership with the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Historic England, this exciting programme has been created to help communities rescue and repurpose neglected historic buildings, with a specific focus on town centre locations, transforming them into vibrant spaces that meet modern needs. For more information and guidance on the Heritage Revival Fund, see our England Grants Page.
