Why the Thames Frost Fairs ended, 1814

Frost on the Thames, Samuel Collings, 1788-9.
Credit: Sharon Lathan

Using the ice for public leisure activities must have had a long and happy history for many Londoners. The River Thames has frozen over many times in the last 700 years, and a number of festivals known as the Thames Frost Fairs sprang up on the river. The first recorded time people took to the frozen riv­er for organised entertainments was 1309, but a frozen river was irregular and unpredictable. It only froze c1 year in 10, except for 4 winters during 1649-66.

The Frost Fair of 1683
The History Press

Until removing the medieval London Bridge in 1831, there were 24 winters in which the Thames in London had frozen over. The river froze more often upstream, beyond the reach of the tide, especially over the weirs. The last big freeze of the upper Thames was 1962–3.

In any case, the Thames did not totally freeze over in the London area for centuries. Clearly the river was wider and shallower pre-1831 AND it had not yet been embanked. But mostly the river had been impeded by the Old London Bridge structure. When chunks of ice got caught between the 20 arches, it slowed the water flow, making it more likely to freeze over (for up to two months at a time).

The first big Frost Fair was in winter 1607-8. Once the Thames froze, Fair traders grabbed their chance; dozens of shops popped up overnight. Unlicensed gambling, games, drinking and dancing were held at the fairs, along with stalls selling food and drink, skittle alleys and fair-ground rides. Cheap souvenirs were available and printers setting up their presses, making cards & popular sheet-music. Vendors sold a very hot, very alcohol made of wormwood wine and gin: purl. People enjoyed bull-baiting, puppet shows, bowling and ox-roasting. Boys played ice football games.

It was not until January that people started setting up camp on it. Pubs located on both banks of the river made a fortune during Frost Fairs. The most famous frost fair, Blanket Fair, was held in 1683-4. Diariest John Evelyn wrote that whole streets of booths were set out on the Thames. He crossed the ice to dine with the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth, and again in his coach, from Lambeth to the Horseferry at Millbank. The ice had now become so thick as to bear streets of booths in which they roasted meat, and diverse shops of wares (eg fruit, shoes, books and toys). Hackney coaches carried fares from Somerset House and the Temple to Southwark. Gallant men in fashionable dresses promenaded with wigs and swords; while ladies shopped briskly. The drink­ing tents were filled by female companions, dancing reels to the sound of fiddles, while others sat round large fires. Tea, coffee and edibles aplenty!

Londoners might have been rugged citizens back then, but even so, the Frost Fairs sometimes lasted only a few weeks, and only in cold wint­ers. People had to be aware of rapid thawing, and the potential loss of life and property eg in the fair of 1739 a whole band of ice sank and swallowed up tents, businesses and people. In 1789 a ship was anchored to a riverside pub in Rotherhithe, steadily tied until the ship swung in the melting night ice. The rigid cables carried away the beam, levelled the house & killed 5 people asleep.

Most were held between the C17th-early C19th in the Little Ice Age (C16th-19th), when the river most froze over, though still rarely. At that time, the British winter was more severe than it is now and the river was wider and slower, further impeded by 19 piers of the medieval Old London Bridge which were removed some years later.

Frost Fair on the River Thames London, 

print, 1814

The British Museum

The 1814 Fair, the worst winter in living memory, ended when the ice began to break Feb 5th, after only 4 days, resulting in deaths. Even though one of the highlights in 1814 had been an elephant being led across the ice to show the river was safe!! Nonetheless this was the last ever London Frost Fair! The Fairs stopped because A] the climate grew milder in 1815. And because of two other important events! B] Old London Bridge was demolished in 1831 and replaced with a new bridge with wider arches, allowing the tide to flow more freely; and C} the river was incrementally embanked later. All of this made the river less likely to freeze. When the new London Bridge opened in 1831, it only had 5 arches. So the Thames never froze over in London again, despite it reaching -20C in very cold winters.

As Europe began to emerge from the Little Ice Age, and globally temperatures began to rise, ice became an ever-rarer sight on the Thames. There was nearly a fair during the severe winter of 1881, when it was expected by many that a Frost Fair would again be held on the Thames. But no.

People on the frozen River Thames, Twickenham, 1881 but there was no Fair.

The National Archives,

The last time that the river fully froze over was in 1963, and although some Londoners took the opportunity to skate on the river, it could no longer host a Frost Fair on its surface.