Replacing inappropriate stone fireplace

[ilikecobwebs]

I've just found this website and decided to bookmark it, because next year we are facing a large re-wiring job in our 2/3 bed stone cottage. Apart from the re-wiring, the associated upheaval is giving us the opportunity (after 22 years) of doing some badly-needed decorating (budgie ate much of the wallpaper some years back! )
Anyway, I have a problem relating to the fireplace in our living room. The cottage is about 1860's-70's. Back in the 1970's, a former owner removed all the fireplaces, and installed a log burner in the living room fireplace-space. The log-burner is not perhaps so bad, but what he then did to the fireplace surround IS.
Instead of leaving the area blank or fitting a wooden one, he built a stone surround; both sides and across; in heavy natural-stone lumps, all cemented together. In a different type of property, it would probably be ok, but not in this one, which is high-ceiling (9feet) and has the correct proportion of picture-rail and skirtingboard.
Trouble is, I don't know what the original fireplace would have looked like. I would like to get shot of the stone and put something more appropriate....nothing fancy, but something that would look reasonable, perhaps a plain-style wooden surround (?).
Sadly, I can't refer to the neighbouring cottages because they've all been desecrated as well. Any ideas what would suit? The fireplace open aperture is quite large; 4 feet high, 3.5 feet across, which is what the log-burner sits in....and doesnt include the stone surround.

 

[Gervase]

In a house of that age, the commonest fireplace would be cast iron - don't be fooled by the huge opening, as the space behind the fireplace would be backfilled with sand and packing.
Something like these: http://www.vicfires.com/repro_fp/complete_victorian_fireplaces.htm or alternativly with tiled inserts and possibly marbling on the pillars and mantel, like these rather later Art Nouveau examples: http://www.buildingdesign.co.uk/arch-3/lel-fireplaces/cast-iron-fireplaces.htm or these assorted restored ones: http://www.antiquefireplacecompany.co.uk/index.php?action=view .

 

[Nemesis]

The space may also of course have once housed the cooking range - if it's a cottage with one room and an offshot, the one room would have been the kitvhen/living room where the cooking was done, the offshot the scullery for 'wet' work.

If it's a little more grand and had two rooms downstairs, one would have been the 'parlour' or best room, although it may also have doubled as a bedroom too.

 

[ilikecobwebs]

Thanks for those URLs, there are some nice designs there, for browsing. It is interesting to think about whether our fireplace might have held a range; in fact, when the house was first built, there were only two downstairs rooms. The staircase was right by the front door (which is now just part of the hallway). There was no kitchen as such until the 1910's, when a stone-built lean-to was added on the outer wall. So I suppose it is possible that there might have been a cooking range in the aperture.
I think it would be tricky, though, to shrink the whole "hole" back down to a small size. I've tried to upload a photo of our set-up, as we inherited it in the 80's (dont know if it will work, though).

[Open Image]

 

[Gervase]

I see exactly what you mean - bloomin' hideous!

 

[Nemesis]

I'll get me sledgehammer...

 

[Pford75]

Whilst I agree the fireplace is truly ghastly....I'm not sure that aesthetics alone are a good enough excuse for erasing alterations to a property.

I happen to find the victorian embellishments to our Early Georgian property hideous, but that's not a reason to smash them out.

Until recently, much of the design work of the 60's & 70's was similarly regarded and removed from houses.....until it came back into fashion and people began valuing it again.

The alterations are part of the history of the house in the same way encaustic tiling or an Edwardian bathroom might be. It's not doing any damage to your property, so I'd encourage you to think carefully before smashing it up. Pastiche period interiors are never particularly attractive.

To follow your argument, anyone who finds their wonky stone floor unappealing, would be perfectly justified in taking it up.

 

[Nemesis]

I think that there is a case to be made here... it's not exactly quality is it? Or indeed a particularly 'period' feature.

Same as when I took a sledghammer to the brickwork blocking up our Georgian fireplaces. I have no shame.

It's all a careful balancing act but in this case...

 

[ilikecobwebs]

Being truthful, I have to say that almost everyone who has visited us over the years has made a negative comment about the fireplace. I think if it were possible to view the rest of the house/cottage on this forum, people would see that it just doesnt fit in. (House/cottage......its a bit of an in-between, really; classed as a cottage but with large period windows and is, in fact, rather more house-like).
I take the point about 60's and 70's alterations; but with the room being only 13 x 15 feet, the stonework is a very prominent feature in more ways than one. The log-burner isnt a period feature either, and one could argue for removing it. However, in this present age of trying to reduce the use of fossil fuels, it has offered us considerable assistance during the winter months; burning scrap wood for considerable heat output that spreads around the house, and therefore being able to turn the oil central heating off earlier in the evening.
So there is a mix of possibilities here, both right and wrong. I am quite sure someone else in the future will rip the stone out, even if we don't....it has been kept only because we havent had the money to do anything else with it.

 

[Nemesis]

I suspect that if it is removed, maybe the original stone lintel and uprights will be behind?