The year the River Thames froze for months and became a huge ice rink

Almost three and a half centuries ago, the United Kingdom experienced a winter so cold that it became known as “The Big Frost.””. It is considered the worst frost England has ever experienced.

Exact temperatures were not recorded in the 17th century, but the records of Dr. John Downes, a physician at Christ's Hospital in London, reveal daily temperatures in the region of – 4°C indoors and -12°C outdoors.

The lowest temperature reported was -30°C.

Many families froze and starved, the price of food and fuel skyrocketed, cattle and deer died where they stood.

Journalist Charles Mackay wrote: “It was so cold that the tree trunks exploded with cracks as loud as musketry shots.”

Chronicler John Evelyn stated that “the roosters' feet were frozen to their prey.”

“We have seen soup accidentally spilled while stirring and frozen on one side while the other was still smoking,” wrote one monk.

“The World of Wonders” (an 1896 book purporting to be “a record of the wonderful things of nature, science, and art”) said that “the frost was so severe that almost all the birds perished.”

The River Thames was covered in 30 centimeters of solid ice and remained frozen for two monthswhich meant that goods could not be transported by ship.

Those who made their living from the river faced a depressing end.

There was even speculation, printed in a news sheet now in the British Museum, that it was due to “the lashing hand of an offended God.”

The author said “I ask out loud for humility (…) so that a worse judgment does not fall on us.”

Fairs on ice

The Thames freeze began slowly. From mid-November 1683 there were a series of mild frosts and small thaws. In mid-December the real frosts began.

The central current continued to flow, albeit with increasingly larger ice deposits, until the tidally influenced part of the river froze.

It was soon discovered that the ice was solid enough to support weight: in the first week of January, a carriage and six horses crossed it to make a bet.

As temperatures dropped and the raw air attempted to strip flesh from bones, Londoners erected rows of stalls and stalls, creating a fair on the ice.

Ice fairs had been held on the Thames before, but not like this one. Previously, merchants had settled on the ice and travelers had painfully crossed it.

The 1683 fair was the first to become an attraction in its own right.

New opportunities

Leaflets and advertisements were printed on press sheets, promising illustrated maps and “alphabetical explanations of the most notable figures curiously engraved on a large sheet of paper.”

There was finally an opportunity for out-of-work frozen boatmen and sailors to make money guiding tourists onto the ice. Others equipped their small boats with skates, converted them into sleds, and They offered rides along the frozen river.

John Evelyn described in his diary the races, puppet shows and numerous food and drink stalls (a whole ox was roasted on the ice near Whitehall) as “a bacchanalian triumph or a carnival on the water”.

Souvenirs quickly appeared, from engraved silver spoons to tickets printed on presses that had been dragged across the ice.

A fellow chronicler, named Narcissus Luttrell, recorded in his diary on February 4, 1684, “that there were three or four printing presses on the ice” when he visited.

And he stressed that the owners of the printing presses made a lot of money, but the poorest “were miserable.”

Boatmen who engaged in ice transportation now had to compete with their land-based contemporaries, who could use ice as an extension of their businesses.

A few river workers managed to make a living by pushing a boat on skates when horse-drawn hackney carriages were available.

The boatmen had even planned to petition a court to ban carriages from passing through the river, but on the day the petition was to be filed, On February 5, the thaw began.

There were more fairs in the following years, but none as large or long-lasting. The last one, in 1814, only lasted four days. Since then, the Thames tidal current has never frozen.

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