In 1765, George Prescott began building a number of buildings on the Theobalds grounds. These were completed in 1770. As a focal point, he had an arch built with pleasing patterns, along with two huts. There also appear to be two smaller ruined arches on either side of the path, in addition to another two small holes built into the large arch. The arch is made of brick on the South side (possibly a mix of Tudor and Georgian bricks) and on the North side a mixture of rough flint and other materials - some suggest that these include puddingstone and tufa.
Several niches can be found at the top of the arch. These may have been used as pigeon holes, as pigeon pie was a popular dish at Georgian palaces. The two huts are made of plastered brick with an outer layer of flint. They most likely served as ice houses, for perishable foods to be refrigerated in the summer using ice extracted from frozen ponds in the winter. The idea that these structures were used as ice houses is further strengthened by this website about an old property in Middleton, which states:
'The Lodge had been built in the 1760's and large country houses of the time nearly always had an ice house to store ice collected in winter for use over the summer months.'
However, some people believe that the huts were used as shelters to take shade from the sun, as this is stated on the information boards in the park. We believe that this is an erroneous assumption.
Both huts have an arched doorway and windows. For a long time, people were free to enter them and children enjoyed playing inside, but today they are protected by a metal fence.
A T-shaped pond existed the near the Flint Arch, designed so that the structure's reflection is visible from a nearby house called The Cedars.
There is a ghost story associated with the flint huts.