In this week's video, Claire talks about the Little Ice Age and the Frost Fairs that were enjoyed on the frozen River Thames.
Here is the video mentioned by Claire:
And here is a photo my son took yesterday of the River Moskva in Moscow which is frozen at the moment:
Further reading
- Kyra Kramer's article on the Little Ice Age can be found in Tudor Life magazine at https://www.tudorsociety.com/december-2015-tudor-life-magazine/
- History Today article by Richard Cavendish - http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/fair-frozen-thames
- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2524252/How-Londoners-celebrated-River-Thames-freezing-frost-fairs-ice.html – includes paintings and woodcuts of frost fairs.
- http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-25862141 - Frost fair: When an elephant walked on the frozen River Thames
- Walking on the Thames: 1963's big freeze in pictures - http://www.itv.com/news/2013-01-17/walking-on-the-thames-1963s-big-freeze-in-pictures/
- When winter really was winter: the last of the London Frost Fairs - http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/when-winter-really-was-winter-the-last-of-the-london-frost-fairs-9100338.html
- http://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/The-Thames-Frost-Fairs/
Notes and Sources
- Tegg, Thomas (1835) A dictionary of chronology or The historian’s companion being an authentic register of events, from the earliest period to the present time, p.171.
- Thornbury, Walter (1878) Old and New London, Volume 3, p.311-322.
- Hall, Edward, Hall’s Chronicle, p.823.
- Schneer, Jonathan (2005) The Thames, p.72.
- Evelyn quoted in Hudson, Roger (1998) London: Portrait of a City, p.8.
- Histories of Windsor: The Great Freeze of ’63 - http://www.thamesweb.co.uk/windsor/windsorhistory/freeze63.html
Thank you so much for a really fascinating talk, Claire. I love the image I now have in my mind’s eye of Queen Elizabeth 1 practising archery on the frozen river. I love all the amazing detail, especially the elephant crossing the river in 1814! Thank you also for the great links; I especially love the Museum of London video. Your son’s photo of the frozen River Moskva is fantastic.