[1][2][3] A feature of large country houses and sporting lodges in Britain and parts of northern Europe from the 18th century, game larders continue to be used by shooting estates.
[10] A relatively early example is the game larder at Farnborough Hall, Warwickshire, which dates from around 1750 and is thought to be by Sanderson Miller; the hexagonal rendered-brick structure has a loggia with Tuscan columns and is surmounted with a wooden cupola.
[16] The game larder at Uppark in Sussex, designed by Humphry Repton, has a floor decorated with deer vertebrae, and has been described as "a mannered grotesque advertisement for the pleasures of the chase and the table awaiting arriving guests.
[4][18] The game larder at Combermere Abbey in Cheshire, which also dates from the early 19th century and is thought to be by the Irish Morrison family, has decorative windows in the Gothic style.
[21] The circular interior of the game larder at Holkham Hall in Norfolk is lined with alabaster; designed by Samuel Wyatt, the octagonal building dates from 1803.
To comply with modern food hygiene regulations, their design incorporates drinking-quality water outlets, and frequently powered ventilation, insect-killing devices and refrigeration.