Exhibitions | Frozen Thames: Frost Fair, 1684 and 1814
Press release (29 January 2014) from the Museum of London:
Frozen Thames: Frost Fair 1814 and Frozen Thames: Frost Fair 1684 open at the Museum of London Docklands and Museum of London respectively, from Wednesday 29 January to Sunday 30 March 2014. The mini-exhibitions feature objects, paintings, keepsakes, engravings and etchings from the collection.
Why did the Thames freeze?
The Thames could freeze over not necessarily because it was colder these years, but because the river was much more sluggish and slow flowing than today. There was no embankment and the arches of the former London Bridge was much wider and protected by floating pontoons in front of them which impeded the current. Evidence for this is that after 1831 the old London Bridge—resting on its twenty solid piers—was demolished, and replaced with a new bridge with just five arches. No further Frost Fairs have been recorded since. Narrower and with fewer obstacles, the Thames now flows too fast to freeze, and the Thames Frost Fair is a spectacle we will probably never see again.
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Frozen Thames: Frost Fair 1814
Museum of London Docklands, 29 January — 30 March 2014
George Cruikshank and Thomas Tegg,
Gambols on the River Thames, February 1814.
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To the modern observer, it is a scene from London’s history that is difficult to comprehend. For just under one week, from 1 February 1814 until 5 February 1814, the River Thames, the artery of the city, froze completely solid between London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge. Exactly 200 years ago this week, Londoners of all backgrounds took to the ice to revel in the event.
Georgina Young, Senior Curator at the Museum of London said: “The 1814 Frost Fair brightened the depths of London’s coldest winters. Imagine a travelling carnival and a street market rolled into one. Coffee houses, taverns and souvenir stalls formed improvised streets across the frozen Thames, with entertainments from skittles to swings ranged all around.”
The only surviving piece of gingerbread bought at the 1814 Frost Fair, is among a variety of objects, paintings, keepsakes, engravings and etchings which will go on display as part of two Frost Fair displays, running in parallel at the Museum of London Docklands near Canary Wharf and the Museum of London in the City of London.
The 1814 Fair was the last of its kind, but it was not the first. Between 1309 and 1814, the Thames froze at least 23 times and on five of these occasions, the freeze was extensive enough to support the weight of festivities, and a Frost Fair was born. The Museum of London collection evidences five Fairs in 1683–84, 1716, 1739–40, 1789 and 1814.
The display at the Museum of London Docklands includes a varied collection of original keepsakes from the 1814 Frost Fair, and important contemporary illustrations of the Fair, including two etchings by satirical artist, George Cruikshank, and a print by George Thompson.
For most people, a Frost Fair on the frozen Thames was a once in a lifetime occasion, and all kinds of mementoes were kept. These include fragments of stone chipped from Blackfriars Bridge, printed keepsakes, and a piece of gingerbread, bought at the Fair, which comes with an original handwritten note, identifying the purchaser as Thomas Moxon. The printed items were produced and sold by enterprising printers, who relocated their businesses onto the ice, turning crisis into opportunity. Indeed, when the Thames froze over, the normal workings of London froze with it—even the Thames Watermen converted their boats into temporary stages, and there are reports that an elephant was led across the Thames by Blackfriars Bridge.
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Frozen Thames: Frost Fair 1684
Museum of London, 29 January — 30 March 2014
Abraham Hondius, Frost Fair, 1684
(Museum of London)
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The star objects in the Museum of London display are two paintings by the Dutch artist, working in London, Abraham Hondius (c.1625–91) who was a notable artist in the expanding art market fostered by Charles II. The first painting depicts the frozen Thames in 1677 looking eastwards towards London Bridge (though this was not recorded as a ‘Frost Fair’), and the second, portrays the area of present day Temple on the north side of the river, in the grip of the 1684 Frost Fair.
Pat Hardy, Curator for Paintings, Prints and Drawings at the Museum of London, said: “Hondius brought with him from the Netherlands new painting and print techniques as well as an acute observation of contemporary life. The pleasures of the 1684 Fair are vividly captured.”
The paintings by Hondius appear alongside other works by unknown artists, which depict the 1684 Fair, and a later drawing of the 1716 Frost Fair, which grew even larger than its predecessor.
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