Root Cellars

1918 Concrete Root Cellar - Maudslay Estate, Newburyport, MA

The former Maudslay Estate, now a state park, contains a number of 19th and early 20th century buildings relating farming on the estate. Of particular interest is a well preserved root cellar. Root cellars were used to preserve farm crops for long periods of time. To preserves these crops it was necessary to maintain an internal temperature between 35 and 40 degrees and humidity level between 90 and 95%. This root cellar has a earthen floor to help maintain the high humidity level, ventilation shafts to regulate temperature and vent gases from the crops which could cause early spoilage, and light shafts which were later superceded by the installation of electric lighting.

This shaft in the ceiling led to combination sky light and ventilation unit. the photo on the right shows the sky light with metal flaps on the sides. Just to the left of the sky light is a round ventilation shaft. This root cellar had two round ventilation units and two sky lights. The shaft inside has four metal loops around it. the purpose is not clear but they have held some type of cover to block light when not in use.

Circa 1843 Brick Arch Root Cellar, New London, CT

This root cellar is located behind the Shaws-Perkins Mansion, 11 Blinman St., New London, Connecticut. The property is currently owned by the New London Historical Society. According to a NEARA field trip (November 2007), it is dated to circa 1843. Arched roofs (whether stone or brick) are quite rare with root cellars, and this one clearly reflects the mansion owner’s wealth. The lower walls are vertical and built with faced off smaller field stone. This lower wall is capped by long granite slabs quarried using the commercial plug and feather method (i.e. round holes). The granite slabs serve as the footing for brick arch laid in (lime?) mortar. The rear wall of root cellar appears to have been recently restored. It measures 12 feet long by 8 feet wide inside. The door frame is 3 feet wide by 4 1/2 feet tall. There is slight step down from the outside to the inside floor level. The floor is paved with unmortared brick. The gaps between the bricks would have provided air circulation beneath the bins and barrels stored inside. A mortared patched in rear end of the arched roof may have once been a vertical roof vent but it remains unconfirmed.

Front and rear exterior views of the root cellars.

Front and rear interior views of the root cellars.

(Left) Close-up of ceiling near the rear wall. There is large mortared patch which may haveen originally a vertical roof vent.

(Right) Close-up of quarried granite slabs. The drill holes are about 1 1/4 inches deep and spaced 7 inches apart.

19th Century Root Cellar (House Foundation) Newbury, MA

Beginning in the early 1600’s in New England, house cellars were used amongst other things to store root crops during the winter. House cellars, however, proved to be less than ideal root cellars because of too much warm radaiting from the fireplaces on the 1st floor. The house cellar was largely abandoned for root crop storage in favor of root pits, root cellars built into barn foundations, and separate free-standing root cellar structures.

This 19th century root cellar house foundation, therefore, it a rather unusual find. This foundation was specifically built as a root cellar rather than just a general purpose cellar. It is built into the top edge of a small knoll. Two walls were built against the hill and the other two required additional insulation to create the root cellar. The southwest wall has a 4+ foot wide earthen berm built against the outside. The southeast wall is composed of two dry laid stone masonry walls built 4 feet part with the space inbetween filled with earth. This root cellar overcame the excess warmth problem by being located at the opposite end of the house from the chimmney. It measures approximately 12 x 12 feet inside with a depth of about 6 feet.The southwest wall has an opening possibly an original outside entrance into the root cellar. There is clear traces of a tar-paper roof covering the foundation at one point. The cellar may have been utilized as a squatters shack possible during the 1930’s.