Ice place for Somerset Christmas

The magnificent central courtyard of Somerset House, recently reclaimed as one of the capital's finest public spaces, may soon add another dimension to Christmas in London: a seasonal skating rink with ox roasts, chestnut sellers, carols and general jollity.

At least a quarter of the courtyard - a minimum of 20 by 30 metres - would be given over to a portable ice rink that could be put down on its newly-laid granite flagstones without altering them further.

In plans now being put together by the trustees, the rink will be set up in the southern part of the courtyard, closest to the Thames. It will be open all day and floodlit into the late evening, with a charge of "only a few pounds".

This charge will include skate hire, available from marquees next to the ice. The marquees will also house the two chillers used to freeze water in the rink. That, however, will be just the centre-piece.

In the rest of the courtyard, unveiled only two weeks ago after a 30-year campaign by the Evening Standard, some of the 55 newly installed fountains will continue their clever computerised choreography, while around them will be space for all manner of seasonal wonders.

"The courtyard that we have restored is a wonderful space, with room for all sorts of events and possibilities," says Duncan Wilson, director of Somerset House. "An ice skating rink is something that we have had at the back of our minds for some time.

"We want to create something like the old Frost Fairs, not just for this year but for every year in future. We see it as a regular feature of Christmas and the New Year in London."

He says there will be stalls including food sellers, adding: "We could do ox roasts and so on. We could have Russian evenings in conjunction with the Hermitage Rooms. We are thinking of carol singers and Christmas trees. We can use the architectural lighting and the lights in the fountains to create a wonderful atmosphere. It is a terrific opportunity."

Mr Wilson says the restoration of the square has already included all the power cables and lighting that would be necessary for the scheme. They were installed because using the square for public entertainment events was part of the original plan.

The courtyard is big enough - without the skating rink - to seat 3,500 people as a public, open-air concert hall. There is also, already, catering on site.

The plan is for the rink and fair to last from before Christmas into the New Year. All that is needed, Mr Wilson says, is a sponsor. The scheme will cost "from £250,000 up to about £500,000", and the trustees are now putting together a business plan.

"It is the perfect place for it. It is public but enclosed, with no problems of access, and the whole thing would enhance the architecture. We feel that we could do it in a very elegant and beautiful way."

In the mini-ice age that gripped Northern Europe during the late Middle Ages, and even as late as 1814, Frost Fairs were a regular feature of London winters.

Held on the river ice, with marshals to check its strength - although in the 16th century the ice was strong enough for Henry VIII to trust it all the way from Hampton Court to the Tower of London - they included skating, football, bowls and other games, as well as food stalls and braziers. They ended abruptly in 1814 with the demolition of the old London Bridge, the multiple spans of which had restricted the flow of the river enough to allow it to freeze.