The London Archives

Beating the heat, 18th century style ❄️

With London sweltering this week, spare a thought for how anyone kept cool, or kept food fresh, before the fridge!

The answer, for those who could afford it, was an ice house. In winter, ice was cut from frozen ponds and lakes and packed down inside a deep, brick lined chamber, mounded over with earth and sealed behind a heavy door. Insulated like this, it could last well into the following summer, ready to chill drinks and preserve food through the hottest months. By the Victorian era it was big business, with ships importing huge blocks of ice from Norway and New England to feed London's growing appetite for cold.

This survivor in Putney Park Lane is an 18th-century example, built to serve the long-vanished Gifford House. The mansion was demolished in the 1950s and replaced by the flats rising behind it, but its ice house lived on, and was given Grade II listed protection in 1955.

Swipe to see it today ➡️

View thousands more photos and videos of London's past via The London Picture Archive. https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/

London’s West End theatres are world famous for their plays and musicals. The creative sets, costumes, songs and lighting help bring stories to life in these wonderful buildings, which have been entertaining people for many years.

From our photography collections, here’s St. Martin's Theatre in West Street, which is home to the world’s longest running play, Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap.
And Shaftesbury Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, which was originally named New Prince's Theatre when it opened in 1911, but changed its name in 1963.

Discover thousands more photographs on The London Picture Archive https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/

In 2023, our 'Unforgotten Lives' research tentatively identified John Shropshire as the hitherto unnamed Black servant of painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. Now, newly discovered court records from 1767 offer explicit proof, helping us centre the margins of Georgian London.

Read Howard Doble’s article: https://www.thelondonarchives.org/your-research/presenting-john-shropshire-centring-the-margins-of-history

Fenton House was built in 1693 on Hampstead Grove, and is Grade I Listed. It’s had several owners in its long history, and was previously known as The Old Clock House. Today it is a National Trust property and home to a collection of keyboard instruments dating from 1540. This recent photograph shows how little has changed compared to these 1975 photographs and 19th century engraving from our collection.

Discover thousands more photographs on The London Picture Archive https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/

Need to cool down? Find an ice house! These brick dome structures kept food and ice cool before we had fridges and freezers, and were built on the grounds of large manor houses. They are sometimes covered by a mound of earth, like this one in which is Grade II Listed. There are some in London including Putney Park Lane, from our photograph collections from 1977. Ice wells are similar but are usually underground and much larger, like this one which was in St James's Place in 1957!

Discover thousands more photographs on The London Picture Archive https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/

This week, thousands of people will be visiting Chelsea Flower show. It’s held at the Royal Hospital in Chelsea, which was founded more than 300 years ago and is home to veteran soldiers, seen here in 1915. Thousands of plants and flowers will be displayed, like these winning carnations at the Royal Carnation Show in 1924.

Explore our Parks and Gardens gallery on The London Picture Archive https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/gallery?i=342334

In celebration of Music Hall & Variety Day we have recreated our feature on The Finsbury Park Empire from our Music Hall display last year.

We are running another event in the Autumn, watch this space to find out more!



https://www.thelondonarchives.org/the-finsbury-park-empire

The beautiful red brick North House, on Eton Avenue, Hampstead, was built for portrait artist John Collier in 1890. This photo in our collection was taken in 1978, and it looks pretty much the same today, with the windows of the artist’s studio on the left.

Explore thousands more photographs on The London Picture Archive https://www.londonpicturearchive.org.uk/