Fireplace weirdness *PIC*

[Anonymous]

So, I spent a merry day pulling up floorboards and breaking open a covered up fire place.

More on the boards in a mo...

The fireplace was very straightforward - cut round the square and then wield the sledgehammer gently.

The square buider's void is there and is fine, but within it there is a curious sloping brick edifice - it comes forward and then drops down - effectively reducing the size of the void by a half. Its a pretty slapdash thing and has collapsed at the sides. You can move the whole thing around by grasping it and pushing and pulling.

My guess is that this is a victorian attempt to reduce the size of the fireplace, as well as to create an angled throat? Has anybody got any suggestions? I would have expected this to have had a cast iron insert with a dog grate originally?

Here is a picture:

Any help most appreciated.
Cheers
Craig

 

[Anonymous]

It looks exactly as I imagine our Victorian attic fireplace would look if we ripped out the cast iron thingys.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Moo. It would only give you room for a tiny grate (max 8" deep) - hardly suitable for the principal dining room. The rear room is 15" deep with the cast iron insert in place. I guess this dates from the time when the house was a loding house for the lawyers, clerks and students at Grays Inn at the bottom of the road. There was probably a desire to have a smaller, more efficient fire.

 

[Anonymous]

It may have once had a hob grate. This, depending on the age of the building, may also have been a later addition to an earlier fireopening, with basket for fuel, or firedogs etc.

The slope down is similar, although larger, than that on our hob grate. Our grate is narrow back to front too, to ensure heat was pushed into the room and be less wasteful of fuel.

A hob grate is an early version of the cast iron fireplace, late 18th and early 19th century, with a raised grate and 'hobs' either side on which simple things could be cooked, a kettle boiled etc.

Not very fuel efficient, but a forerunner of many improvements in grate and flue design in the 19th century.

 

[Anonymous]

What a good suggestion - I hadnt thought of a hob grate - I was imagining a lower fire basket, but you are right - that would almost certainly make sense.

House is c. 1795, so about the right date?

Other than the first line of bricks down the inside edge, the rest of the builders void is such a mess that I doubt it was ever exposed to view?

 

[Anonymous]

I doubt any of it would have been on view, other than the slope and the part where the ashes would fall. The whole gubbins would have been there to fill up the space behind the decorative cast metal fronts and possibly curved cheeks above the hobs, which is why its so unlovely.

Pity I have no idea how to post pics (I have tried!) or I'd post some of our grates - a cast iron one and two made of stone, with only the firebars of metal - very rural.

Our house is of similar date, with 19th c additions.

I suspect your grate may have been quite wide so that much of the heat was pushed into the room, although a great deal tends to go up the chimney, too! They came in all manner of sizes and types of decoaration.

 

[Anonymous]

If you do happen to have any photos that you can email direct, I would love to see them. My email adress is craig at mcwilliam dot co dot uk.

Many thanks again.

I have another three to open up sometime so more fun to come.

 

[Anonymous]

If you do happen to have any photos that you can email direct, I would love to see them. My email adress is craig at mcwilliam dot co dot uk.

Many thanks again.

I have another three to open up sometime so more fun to come.

 

[Anonymous]

Hope pic has arrived - my ancient computer sometimes has a mind of its own...

 

[Anonymous]

I'll e-mail you a photo of our little fireplace tomorrow.

 

[Anonymous]

Couldn't you post it here instead? We'd all be interested...

 

[Anonymous]

I'll try, but although I'm fairly computer-literate, I think I'll have problems reducing the size sufficiently. However, I'll give 'Save for Web' a go and see what happens.

 

[Anonymous]

You can try saving as a Jpeg and it should allow you to increase the compression

 

[Anonymous]

As Peter says, a jpeg (or a gif) is the best format - but if the picture is from a digital camera, it's probably a jpeg already.
Have you got any photo editing software? If so, try reducing the image size to about 10cm by 15cm (or less) at 100 d.p.i. That's plenty for computer monitor reproduction.

 

[Anonymous]

Thank for the advice - I'll have a go tomorrow once there's some daylight. (Mind you, it's a very ordinary little fireplace...)

 

[Anonymous]

Attached is a freeware package that will reduce the size of photos as much as you like. I recommend it - you can works singly or in batches.

Thank you for the offer of photos Moo - that would be great.


Shrink your pics

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks, Craig.