The Ice Warehouse

The Ice Warehouse was built around 1863 at Battlebridge Basin, along the Regents Canal north of Kings Cross. It currently stores the Canal Museum.

Large rectangular blocks of ice were cut and imported by ship from Norway to London, brought along the Thames, transferred to narrow boats at Limehouse Basin and pulled up the canal by Dobbin to the Ice House. Ice was then distributed through Victorian London by horse (Dobbin again) and cart.

The Ice Warehouse had a hybrid function of storing the horses on the first floor.

Below the floor slab of the warehouse two large cylindrical ice wells were built, used to store the ice. They were vast holes, approximately 13m deep and 10m in diameter. The volume of the ice enables it to retain its frozen state.

One of the two wells has been partially excavated to 3 - 4m, the brick lining of the void artifact can be seen. Someone at the museum has placed a large metal tub at the base of the ruin, which has become filled with odd coins. When one is faced with a well, dark, inaccessible, empty, there is a strange compulsion to throw money into it, a hopeful gesture towards fate, but a gesture which inspires a feeling of hopelessness in the face of nothingness.

The above diagram is a block of ice, easily handled by a man and his 'ice dog' for distribution, showing the inherent hexagonal lattice structure of ice. The ice can store information along pathways in a vascular pattern which threads through air gaps in the ice structure.

Dobbin (under the bridge) pulling the narrow boat up the canal - I have only just discovered this word and it's so quaint and appealing - comes from Robin - Robert. Image film still from Barging though London. Below: ice cut and handled in Norway.