The Frost Fairs of River Thames

During the period spanning from the 13th to the 19th centuries, the northern hemisphere experienced a period known as the “Little Ice Age”. This era was characterised by a global drop in temperatures, leading to cold and wet summers, as well as colder, longer, and harsher winters.

The Swiss Alps witnessed encroaching glaciers that destroyed farmlands and villages. Navigation in Great Britain and the Netherlands was hindered by frequent freezing of canals and rivers. Greenland remained largely inaccessible due to sea ice for three centuries, resulting in the starvation and disappearance of many Norse colonies due to failing crops.

While Europe faced widespread famine and death, people also found ways to make the most of the cold weather. Frozen ponds and rivers served as impromptu ice skating rinks, and outdoor winter sports gained popularity as recreational activities.

In London, even the mighty River Thames froze. According to historical data, between the 17th and the early 19th centuries, the River Thames froze for nearly two dozen times. During Britain’s worst recorded frost, in the winter of 1683–84, the Thames was completely frozen for two months, with ice up to a foot thick.

For Londoners, the freezing of the river was an event to be celebrated. As soon as the ice was thick enough to bear weight, peddlers would hastily construct tents out of sail cloth and oars to sell everything from souvenirs, to food and drinks, to haircuts. One person even setup a printing press on the ice and published a 124-page book. Activities and entertainment at frost fairs ranged from bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays, sledging, nine-pin bowling and more. An eyewitness for the 1683–84 frost fair reported revellers roasting a whole ox on top of a roaring fire. Even the Royal family took part in the fairs.

The same eyewitness reported King Charles and the Queen partaking the aforementioned roasted ox.

The frost fair that occurred in the winter of 1683–84 was the most celebrated, and there are many written accounts of the event. The famous English diarist John Evelyn described the fair in extensive details:

Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other staires to and fro, as in the streetes, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cookes, tipling and other lewd places, so that it seemed a bacchanalian triumph or carnival on the water, whilst it was a severe judgement on the land, the trees not onely splitting as if lightning-struck, but men and cattle perishing in divers[e] places, and the very seas so lock’d up with ice, that no vessels could stir out or come in.

The frost fairs on River Thames were typically short-lived, lasting only a few days at most. These fairs tended to occur towards the end of winter, just before the ice started to melt. In 1739, a large section of ice collapsed during the fair, engulfing tents and people. Similarly, in January 1789, the ice melted rapidly, causing a ship anchored to a riverside pub to be dragged down, resulting in the collapse of the building and the tragic deaths of five individuals.

In the 19th century, temperatures began to rise, leading to milder winters. The Thames ceased to freeze sufficiently for fairs to be organized. The final frost fair occurred in 1814, attracting crowds who witnessed a spectacle as a fully-grown elephant crossed the unfrozen river.

The removal of the old London Bridge in 1831 and the subsequent construction of a new one played a role in preventing the Thames from freezing over. The medieval London Bridge and its closely spaced piers used to trap ice during winter, creating blockages that facilitated freezing. With the completion of the new embankment along the Thames, the river could flow more smoothly, marking the end of the era when the Thames would freeze over.

Most souvenirs sold at the fairs were just regular trinkets and toys labeled “bought on the Thames” and sold at double or treble the original price. This piece of gingerbread was bought on the Thames.

The frost fair of 1684.

The Frost Fair of 1683.

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