Frost Fair on the River Thames in London - stock illustration

Crowds of people enjoying a ‘Frost Fair’. Frost fairs were events which were held on the River Thames when it froze over with enough thickness of ice to hold such a considerable weight. Between 1607 and 1814 it was quite common for the Thames to freeze over for a month or two at a time, during what became known as the ‘Little ice Age’. This image appears to portray a Frost Fair in the 18th century. From “The Cottager and Artisan: The People’s Own Paper” published in 1898 by The Religious Tract Society, London.