Georgian Fireplace advice

[Burghley]

Hi there. First time as a member on here, although have looked for advice on floors previously. Backstory - We own a house in Stamford, Lincolnshire which we believe was built around 1745. We have lived here for eight years and have always had an idea that we would renovate the 1980's badly done decorating. We started about three weeks ago with our bedroom, as one of the daughters has moved out to go to University, hence a spare room. Moved out of our room and into hers. removed carpet and found reasonable elm floorboards which we have manually sanded, using your advice. (We also found a 1775 George III coin under a floorboard, which we think indicates that they have never been lifted.) Here is the problem. We knew there had been a fireplace in the corner of the room as evidenced by the airbrick and shape of the room. upon investigation we found it had been bricked up (Circa 1983 if the old newspaper piece we found gives an idea) We have removed the plaster and the bricks and have found a fireplace that appears to be in a poor state. What do we do? Originally we were just going to get a fireplace surround that matched the room and mount it in the corner. leaving sleeping dogs to lie, so to speak. The house is centrally heated, so we never intended to make it functional, more for the aesthetic appeal. I have attached some pictures showing the fireplace. Any advice would be gratefully received. I can send more pictures if it is not clear and as loading files seems to be a little finicky..

 

[livias]

That looks to me as if it used to contain a hob grate. I just had a Google which came up with some rather grand ones for sale at very grand prices. For my last house I bought a simple bedroom version for £70 from a local junk yard, cleaned it up, painted it black. With a little tidying of the plaster and paintwork wipe off the loose soot all looked lovely

I blocked off the chimney by stuffing a bag of insulation up it. Very technical

 

[88v8]

Hello and welcome.

It depends how true to period you want to be.
I would certainly reinstate a fireplace.

In our previous house there was an ugly toe-stubbing Deco tiled fireplace in the main bedroom. That had a apparently been put in as a replacement for a Victorian slate model. The house was built 1921, so the original fireplace was a matter of the original owner (an impoverished local builder) using what he had to hand.
I replaced it with this



It suited the vibe of the house to paint it; you could have yours sand-blasted, then blacklead it.

I'd find something old that you like, and which suits the room.
Leave the chimney open. Presumably there is a cap on top?
Unventilated flues are perennially a source of damp.

As regards the ongoing redecoration, as I mentioned it depends how Period-true you want to be. Just replacing that student-red paint with some proper wallpaper will be a huge step forward !!
Trying to source period Georgian for the whole house could be tricky. You could mix and match Georgian, Victorian, Arts & Crafts, Edwardian, so long as there is a unifying theme to tie them together. In our house it was the doors. We had a large variety of doors, but with the exception of one lovely oak door, they were all painted cream, and that was our unifying element.
Just a thought.

Ivor

 

[JanJonWestWales]

agree with previous comments, if you google "georgian corner bedroom fireplace" you get the idea !

one unrelated comment...do I see original laths under your lifted floorboard??
thats a lovely feature to have survived...assuming the ceiling below is still in good shape???

J&J

 

[Burghley]

Thank you so much for the comments and advice. Yes we lifted the floorboard and found the 1775 George III penny in the layers of dust underneath so I assume it is original, (We also found a brass circular padlock, which would appear to be Victorian, under a different floorboard, and part of a 1925 newspaper, very exciting...) and it is in relatively good condition. We do / did not intend to restore the room as original, but the cream carpet and 1980's IKEA style built in wardrobe had to go. We wanted to see the wood floor and have loose carpets or rugs. Having a home of this age and having barely any period features on display seemed wrong. (The 1980 style makeover, done on the cheap, was not to our personal liking). we do have a nicely panelled room downstairs, which is a redeeming feature.

Thanks again.

D & K

 

[JanJonWestWales]

well done you ...a lovely looking house