Most of the old root cellars in this area have the access from inside the house. Pull up a door in the floor and you pray it doesn't fall closed. We have one in our old farm house. It's always a bit nerving to go and light the water heater and/or furnace. I don't keep any food there since we don't live there, but I know the critters are there. Still has that one-light bulb that just barely let's you make out the potato bin. If we lived there, I would definitely use it, but I would make sure extra light fixtures were added (fluorescent). I seen snakes, mice and chipmunks come out of the potato shoot hole.
I hope you get one. There are a lot of things now-a-days that would make it less scary and more secure from critters
