What is an ice well? In the days before ice could be made
artificially, ice formed by nature had to be stored for as long as possible.
The best way to store ice was underground in circular pits or wells, protected
from sunlight, where ice could be packed together in quantity. This minimised
melting and maximised storage time. Small ice wells are often found in the
grounds of large country houses. Commercial ice wells on a much larger scale
were built in big cities to store ice imported from colder climates. The two
ice wells beneath what is now the London Canal Museum are, so far as we know,
the only such wells in preservation to which there is any degree of public
access.
The ice wells were built in approximately 1857 and 1862 for Carlo Gatti, an
immigrant from Switzerland, who came to London to make his fortune, and did so.
Gatti was in the catering business and he realised that there was money to be
made by supplying ice. In the days before artificial refrigeration, ice was in
demand for food preservation, for chilling the drinks of the wealthy, and for
relieving sprains and inflammation in hospitals. Before anesthetics, ice was
even used to dull the pain of amputations!
The main demand came from merchants
dealing in meat, fish, and dairy products. Ordinary people did not have ice at
home, as it was too expensive. Ice had been imported from the United States in
the earlier years of the 19th century but Gatti used ice from Norway, where it
was formed by nature in the mountain lakes of that cold country. The ice was
brought by ship to London and from the docks travelled by horse-drawn canal
barge to be stored underground and overground in the building that is now the
London Canal Museum. Two huge brick-lined wells were constructed, thirty feet
in diameter, and around 42 feet deep. Ice was packed into these wells in large
quantities and could be stored for months, losing only about a quarter of its
weight between Norway and the customer in London whose supply was delivered
from this building by horse and cart.
About the Ice Well
The wells were used for storage of natural ice until 1904. By then,
ice could be made in London, due to advances in technology. So the natural ice
trade declined swiftly and Gatti's company converted the building into a horse
and cart depot, installing new floors and making extensive alterations. The man
himself was by this time back in Switzerland, resting in his grave. The ice
wells beneath the museum are not the only such wells to have survived but they
are believed to be the only commercial-scale ice wells in Europe that you can
see today. Other wells are buried and inaccessible.
One of the wells at the museum may be seen from above through an
opening. This well is lit. The other well cannot be seen from the museum
galleries, other than by viewing the image from our web camera.
