River Thames frost fairs were held on the Tideway of the River Thames at London between the 15th and 19th centuries when the river froze over. During that time the British winter was more severe than now, and the river was wider and slower.
During the Great Frost of 1683–84, the worst frost recorded in England,[1][2][3] the Thames was completely frozen for two months, the ice 11 inches (28 cm) thick at London. Solid ice was reported extending for miles off the coasts of the southern North Sea (England, France and the Low Countries), causing severe problems for shipping and preventing the use of many harbours.[4] Near Manchester, the ground was frozen to 27 inches; in Somerset, to more than 4 feet.
Historical background
One of the earliest accounts of the Thames freezing comes from AD 250, when it was frozen solid for nine weeks. As long ago as 923 the river was open to wheeled traffic for trade and the transport of goods for thirteen weeks; in 1410, it lasted for fourteen weeks.
The period from the mid-14th century to the 19th century in Europe is called the Little Ice Age because of the severity of the climate, especially the winters. In England, when the ice was thick enough and lasted long enough, Londoners would take to the river for travel, trade and entertainment, the latter eventually taking the form of public festivals and fairs.
However, the colder climate was not the only factor that allowed the river to freeze over in the city: the Thames was broader and shallower in the Middle Ages – it was yet to be embanked, meaning that it flowed more slowly.[5] Moreover, old London Bridge, which carried a row of shops and houses on each side of its roadway, was supported on many closely-spaced piers; these were protected by large timber casings which, over the years, were extended – causing a narrowing of the arches below the bridge, thus concentrating the water into swift-flowing torrents. In winter, large pieces of ice would lodge against these timber casings, gradually blocking the arches and acting like a dam for the river at ebb tide.[6][7]
The first frost fairs
Although the Thames had frozen over several times in the 16th century, the first recorded frost fair was in 1608. King Henry VIII traveled from central London to Greenwich by sleigh along the river during the winter of 1536. Queen Elizabeth I took to the ice frequently during the winter of 1564, to "shoot at marks", and small boys played football on the ice.[8]
A celebrated frost fair occurred in the winter of 1683–84 and was thus described by John Evelyn:
- Coaches plied from Westminster to the Temple, and from several other stairs too and fro, as in the streets; sleds, sliding with skeetes, a bull-baiting, horse and coach races, puppet plays and interludes, cooks, tipling and other lewd places, so that it seemed to be a bacchanalian triumph, or carnival on the water.[9]
For sixpence, the printer Croom sold souvenir cards written with the customer's name, the date, and the fact that the card was printed on the Thames, and was making five pounds a day (ten times a labourer's weekly wage). King Charles II bought one. But the cold weather was not only a cause for merriment, as Evelyn explained:
- The fowls, fish and birds, and all our exotic plants and greens universally perishing. Many parks of deer were destroyed, and all sorts of fuel so dear that there were great contributions to keep the poor alive...London, by reason for the excessive coldness of the air hindering the ascent of the smoke, was so filled with the fuliginous steam of the sea-coal ...that one could hardly breath.[10]
An eye-witness account of a severe frost of the 1680s:[11]
- On the 20th of December, 1688 [misprint for 1683], a very violent frost began, which lasted to the 6th of February, in so great extremity, that the pools were frozen 18 inches thick at least, and the Thames was so frozen that a great street from the Temple to Southwark was built with shops, and all manner of things sold. Hackney coaches plied there as in the streets. There were also bull-baiting, and a great many shows and tricks to be seen. This day the frost broke up. In the morning I saw a coach and six horses driven from Whitehall almost to the bridge (London Bridge) yet by three o'clock that day, February the 6th, next to Southwark the ice was gone, so as boats did row to and fro, and the next day all the frost was gone. On Candlemas Day I went to Croydon market, and led my horse over the ice to the Horseferry from Westminster to Lambeth; as I came back I led him from Lambeth upon the middle of the Thames to Whitefriars' stairs, and so led him up by them. And this day an ox was roasted whole, over against Whitehall. King Charles and the Queen ate part of it.
Thames frost fairs were often brief, scarcely commenced before the weather lifted and the people had to retreat from the melting ice. Rapid thaws sometimes caused loss of life and property. In January 1789, melting ice dragged at a ship anchored to a riverside public house, pulling the building down and crushing five people to death.
Walking from Fulham to Putney
Soon after Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, took residence at Fulham Palace in 1788, he recorded that the year was remarkable "for a very severe frost the latter end of the year, by which the Thames was so completely frozen over, that Mrs. Porteus and myself walked over it from Fulham to Putney".[12] The annual register recorded that, in January 1789, the river was "completely frozen over and people walk to and fro across it with fairground booths erected on it, as well as puppet shows and roundabouts".
The last frost fair
The frost fair of 1814 began on February 1, and lasted four days. An elephant was led across the river below Blackfriars Bridge. A printer named Davis published a book, Frostiana; or a History of the River Thames in a Frozen State. This was to be the last frost fair. The climate was growing milder; also, old London Bridge was demolished in 1831[13][14][15] and replaced with a new bridge with wider arches, allowing a freer flow of the tide;[16] additionally, the river was embanked in stages during the 19th century, which also made the river less likely to freeze.
Modern revival
The frost fair was revived with a one day festival on December 22, 2003 (from 12.30 to 10 pm),[17] and has since grown, with the 2008 festival (official site) lasting over a week, with events spanning two weekends. Officially the Bankside Winter Festival, it is modeled after Christmas markets, and features a market (the “Bankside Winter Market”) and numerous events.
Engraving
 External images | |
|---|---|
 | View down tunnel, showing full frieze[18] |
| First panel ("Behold the Thames...")[19] |
In the pedestrian tunnel under the south bank of Southwark Bridge, there is a engraving by noted Southwark sculptor Richard Kindersley, made of 5 slabs of grey slate, showing a stylized engraving of the frost fair.
The frieze contains an inscription that reads (two lines per slab):
Behold the Liquid Thames frozen o’re,
That lately Ships of mighty Burthen bore
The Watermen for want of Rowing Boats
Make use of Booths to get their Pence & Groats
Here you may see beef roasted on the spit
And for your money you may taste a bit
There you may print your name, tho cannot write
Cause num'd with cold: tis done with great delight
And lay it by that ages yet to come
May see what things upon the ice were done
The inscription is based on handbills, such as this one,[20] printed on the Thames during the frost fairs.
Years when the Thames froze
From 1400 into the 19th century, there were 24 winters in which the Thames was recorded to have frozen over at London; if "more or less frozen over" years (in parentheses) are included, the number is 26: 1408, 1435, 1506, 1514, 1537, 1565, 1595, 1608, 1621, 1635, 1649, 1655, 1663, 1666, 1677, 1684, 1695, 1709, 1716, 1740, (1768), 1776, (1785), 1788, 1795, and 1814.[21]
太陽活動變少 英國罕見嚴冬可能再度出現 【4/15 17:35】
倫敦「每日郵報」（Daily Mail）報導，儘管部分學說聲稱全球暖化正導致大西洋冰河溶化和溫度上升，但專家警告，英國可能再次面臨17世紀末以來罕見的寒冬。
1500、1600年代「小冰河時期」（Little Ice Age）的冬天相當寒冷，倫敦泰晤士河（Thames）往往一凍結就是3個月。
河川這時就成了博覽會場，木偶戲、熟食攤、賽馬和冰上保齡球都能見到。據傳國王亨利八世曾經從倫敦市中心，一路乘雪橇抵達格林威治（Greenwich）。
每年將再度有漫長寒冬期的這項推測，和日暈等太陽表面活動有關，影響範圍涵蓋整個歐洲北部。
科學家發現，當太陽活動相對平穩時，冬天更加嚴寒。上一次太陽活動如此平靜發生在1684年，當年經歷了史上最嚴酷的寒冬。
這項發布於英國物理學會（Institute ofPhysics）期刊「環境研究快報」（EnvironmentalResearch Letters）的理論，將能協助解釋為何英國才剛瑟瑟發抖地度過31年來最寒冷的冬天。
地球高空的急流通常會從西方帶來微風，經由大西洋進入北歐地區。在過去2、3年的冬天，這股微風似乎迷失了方向，每年會有數週時間消失不見。學者相信，這種變化要歸咎於較不頻繁的太陽活動。
微風消失，導致英國受到北極圈吹來的寒冷東北風侵襲。
瑞丁大學（Reading University）學者說：「這次冬天是英國160年來排名第14冷的超級嚴冬，但是全球平均溫度卻是同期第15高。我們發現這種異常在太陽活動不頻繁時較常出現。」
這項報告的主要作者洛克伍德（Mike Lockwood）教授表示，這種趨勢不代表冬天一定會變得更冷，但可能性將較之前提高。（譯者：中央社戴雅真）
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