exposing lintel for range cooker *PIC*

[Anonymous]

We have removed a '50's fireplace from our Edinburgh tenement kitchen (c. 1905) and would like to extract the rest of the brick / rubble up to the height of (what we think) is the orignial stone lintel at 1.65m. The opening is about 1.1m wide (between two upright stone supports) and 0.35m deep. The plan is to keep the space open for a recessed range cooker, flued up the original chimney.
Does this sound feasible? Would we need to obtain a building warrant?

The upright stone suport on the right side has a couple of bricks between it and the lintel. These are not flush with the support or the lintel, giving an irregular shape. Some of the upright support has been chipped away at the bottom to allow pipes to be fed into the chimney opening. They are no longer connected to anything, but were probably once connected to the original range. Will this all need to be replaced?

 

[Anonymous]

I asked a similar question a while ago Gavin and was told that it's not a good idea to extract up the chimney. Apparently the steam and oil from the cooking can condense on the inside of the chimney causing a fire hazard.
The link is below.
Can't help you on the brickwork I'm afraid.....



Chimney extraction

 

[Anonymous]

Is it high enough to have a range or cooker in it?
Put something which is the height of a work top into the hole (even a chair with a stool balanced on it or something will do) and imagine leaning into the back to pick a pan up from it - does your head (and that of anyone else i the house who may be taller) clear the lintel by inches?
My lintel is 1.20ms high and far too low yet had a range in the opening.
Victorian ranges were a lot lower - big heavy iron pans were not lifted off 800mms high cookers but from almost knee level, a height which do most of our backs in were we to do it nowadays.

 

[Anonymous]

we had to do this because the lintel was only 1.5metres high. I think it had been one of those open fireplaces before.