Photographic piece: Title. SwanSong
One of a pair of local swans.
When I discovered this building, It looked obviously unused somehow… On the canal side where I first stood looking at it, rotten boats mored to its boundaries, windows had long been broken and it shows all signs of being just another empty warehouse, I think you’ll agree, the only glimmer that intrigued me where the windows, somehow smaller than you’d expect, yet a chimney for industry of some sort …. little did I know of its surprising passed at that moment, it wasn’t until I asked a passer by and was informed “Oh yeah, thats the Great Ice House of Barking that is..”. …the what! I say, surprised.
I do take ugly shots as well …
Its a little known fact that during the early 19th century, the London Fishing industry used to ship Ice out of one of the greatest fishing ports in England at Barking creek, ice would be manufactured and shipped via clippers to many ports to keep fish and produce fresh, as well as a plentiful supply for the wealthy’s cold cabinets.
Keeping fish fresh was not a new thing for fishermen at that time, it had long been practice to use a sea water circulating tank built into fishing boats called a well smacks to keep the fish alive and available truly fresh, (Wiki-well smack) which is more than we can say today haha. Unfortunately this method became obsolete as the Thames became more polluted and around the 1850s the ice storage method was the only way to go.
Ice would be shipped out in large blocks crammed into the cool hulls of ships and loaded at Barking creek, a short hop from the river Thames. Frozen water in large blocks has a property that keeps it from defrosting immediately and in doing so loss of ice was small considering the length of journey.
The Great Ice house of Barking built in the ealy1800s contained two purpose built iron lined wells approx 30 feet across and 30ft deep, both topped with huge iron lids and contained deep within a cool basement. Manufacturing ice was very expensive and most of the ice was collected at the onset of winter. To boost storage and reduce costs, vast areas of land would be flooded via sluice gates, security was employed to watch over these frozen crops untill it was time for harvest, workers would then cut blocks from the frozen lakes, long winters meant Ice fields could be flooded several times… This continued to boost Barkings fishing wealth until a new dock in Grimsby Linconshire offered improvements none could resist and the fishing fleet in Barking slowly dwindled.
Unfortunately I’ve failed to get access to the premises for my photography, so I can’t confirm any existence or remains.
Theres a wealth of leads available for this fleeting industrial surge at the Barking and Dagenham -Maritime and Fishing Heritage website.
