Newby's ice store stood on the north bank of the canal in the 1860s. Ice was used to keep food fresh for transport, and in shops. Imported mainly from Norway, it was delivered along the canal by horse-drawn barges to Newby's, where it was stored in deep ice wells. The business was owned and run by the Newby family, who were also Billingsgate fish merchants.
The exact location of this large business can be seen on this 1897 map.
Our photo comes from Bridge to Nowhere which is a very good page on Newbys and the ice business overall. The dates we've given are approximate: Bridge to Nowhere write: "Newby and Co. probably served the first indoor purpose-built market (1850) at Billingsgate in the city, and its 1876 successor, which still stands today, until the market installed its own ice-making plant in the 1920s."
