XXIII. The Fireplace and Its Treatment

But they’ve a wall’d up now wi’ bricks / The vier pleace vor dogs an’ sticks / An’ only left a little hole / To teake a little greate o’ coal, / So small that only twos or drees / Can jist push in an’ warm their knees. / And then the carpets they do use / Ben’t fit to tread wi’ ouer shoes / An’ chairs an’ couches be so neat / You mussen teake em vor a seat / They be so fine, that vo’k mus’ pleace / All over em an’ outer cease, / And then the cover when ‘tis on. / Is still too fine to loll upon.

Ah! gie me, if I wer’ a squier. The settle an’ the girt wood vier.

William Barnes.

From the modern utilitarian point of view I suppose it must be conceded that the open fire is an extremely unscientific and unsatisfactory arrangement. But the modern scientist satisfies himself with putting the matter to the test of the thermometer, and the value of the system is judged by its effects on mercury, rather than on the complex human, whose attitude in the matter is not altogether a question of degrees Fahrenheit.

In the house the fire is practically a substitute for the sun, and it bears the same relation to the household as the sun does to the landscape. It is one of the fairy-tale facts of science that the heat and brightness from the burning coal is the same that was emitted from the sun on the primeval forests; and so the open fire enables us to enjoy to-day the brightness and warmth of yesterday’s sunshine, and the cheerfulness we experience from the fire is akin to the delight which sunlight brings. To live in a scientifically adjusted temperature with the fire relegated to the basement is to live in a grey and cheerless world; and so the house, however warm, without a fire may very reasonably be compared to a summer day without the sun. It is, therefore, no mere archaic affectation which leads us to cling to the open hearth and the blazing fire; and although, especially in large houses, it may be desirable to introduce more effectual means of heating, this should never replace but only supplement the open fire.

In glancing back at the evolution of the house one of the most interesting features is the treatment of the fireplaces. The earliest arrangement was to place the fire in the centre of the room, the smoke finding its way out through the roof; and were it not for this difficulty of disposing of the smoke this central position seems to possess many advantages, and the family gathered round such a fire forms a complete circle.

When, however, the fireplace became to be placed against the wall the fireside became more restricted and the family circle was reduced to a semicircle. Still the fire was not enclosed in a recess, but covered merely by a projecting hood to take the smoke, or perhaps by an ingle recess which still left the sides as well as the front of the fire accessible. This arrangement, however, did not entirely dispose of the smoke problem, as such a fire was subject to cross draughts. Next may be noted a transition stage, in which the fire was partly covered by a hood and partly enclosed by a recess, until at last the fire was placed entirely in a recess in the wall. Gradually this recess became contracted into the modern grate, so that the whole evolution of the position of the fireplace seems to be first the pushing of the fire to the wall, and then its gradual absorption into the wall, followed by the reduction of its size. It is not implied that such a process was chronological, and its later developments were much hastened by the use of coal instead of wood as fuel. With a wood fire a certain amount of smoke is not entirely objectionable, for the aromatic odours of burning wood are too pleasant to be entirely lost. With coal, however, the case is different, and the least smoke is objectionable, and so in the modern grate where coal is burnt this question of the elimination of the smoke becomes a most important one, and the whole problem of the position and treatment of the modern fireplace resolves itself into the getting rid of the smoke without unduly cramping or enclosing the fire itself, and to secure the charm and beauty of the open hearth without its drawbacks.

In passing to the consideration of the materials used in the construction of the fireplace we find these naturally divide themselves into three classes. Firstly, such material as will bear actual contact with the fire, such as iron and other metals, firebrick, &c.; secondly, those materials which are incombustible, but will not stand contact with the fire, such as stone, glazed tiles, &c.; and thirdly, materials which are inflammable, and which must not be placed too close to the fire.

In the ordinary fireplace we shall find all these three classes of materials represented in the iron grate, with its surroundings of glazed tiles and wooden mantelpieces.

To secure simplicity and breadth of effect it is often desirable to simplify this formula, and the fireplace will affbrd the best opportunity for displaying the actual structure of the house itself—the brickwork or stonework of its walls. The reality and sincerity of the structure so displayed will outweigh the claims here of superficial materials, especially in view of the desirability of surrounding the fire with a space of material which is not inflammable. Moreover, the fire itself and its fuel are necessarily rather rough and homely in their character, and look still more so if brought into too close contact with over-refined materials. The mark of the smoke on the rough surface of the brickwork will but add new notes in the scale of its varied colour, and if the whole appointment of the fireside have a like homely character, the fire will seem at home there, instead of an alien amidst its superfine surroundings too dainty for the blackness of its smoke. And so the rugged virile spirit of the fire should dictate the proper character for its setting, and however delicate the rest of the room may be, this character as it approaches the fire should merge into a more serviceable quality. It has already been urged that the house should contain at least one good-sized central room, and it is no less important that this room should have a fireplace broadly designed to dominate the scheme, and form, as it were, the centre of a solar system to which the lesser fires are duly subordinated.

The whole question of the occupation of rooms is largely a question of fires. In the cottage the front parlour is not used, mainly because the household is a “one-fire” household, and that one fire must necessarily be in the kitchen. Its logical expression in a plan would show a large kitchen as the house plan, with a parlour reduced to the small dimensions its limited functions suggest. Again, a two-fire household implies fires in the kitchen and in the dining-room, and should be expressed in a large dining-hall as the central feature, or at least the dining-room should form a recess in the houseplace. In larger houses these limitations do not occur, but even here it is desirable that the focus and centre of the house should be expressed by the large fireplace in the large hall. In considering the house thus as a winter dwelling, I am assuming those conditions which test its real qualities. The main functions of a house is that it affords a retreat from the cold or a shelter from the rain. In fine warm weather its occupation is gone, and its tenants should chiefly live, if not in the garden, at least in an open verandah. In the English climate the apartments of the house can be quite adequately heated by means of open fires alone in houses of average size; but in America, and on the continent, some more effectual means of heating is required. In America, the English tradition of the open fire is still maintained in connection with artificial heating; but on the continent the fire is usually interred in a porcelain tomb, and the house is robbed of one of its greatest charms—the ruddy glow of the open fire.

While, however, the central houseplace should have its large fireplace, in a house which is also artificially heated, where the remaining rooms are small, it is not always necessary to follow the English tradition of a fireplace to each room, and apartments used for writing or sleeping may be heated merely by artificial means. This is largely a matter of individual taste, but in a house of small size, containing only the kitchen and hall flues in one chimney stack, the cost of building extra chimneys to its smaller rooms might be devoted to artificial heating.

Some such compromise would form a reasonable basis for a modern plan, and would save a certain amount of lighting fires and cleaning grates. Where fireplaces are introduced in the various specialised rooms their position and treatment should be modified accordingly, and in the bedroom the fireplace may be of modest dimensions and simple treatment.

In selecting the position for a fireplace in the room, it is important that it should be placed in relation to doors so that it is not subjected to cross-draughts, and in relation to windows so that it is well lighted.

In the four small sketches shown here, the arrangement shown in No. i is the best, as the fireplace is free from draughts and lighted from the side. If, however, the door is moved down the side wall to the position shown in No. 2, the comfort of the fireside is destroyed, while the window at the opposite end of the room is also in a bad position for giving light at the fireplace, and cannot be opened without a direct draught.

The arrangement No. 3 is also defective, owing to the direct draught from door to fireplace; while No. 4 is good, though not so entirely satisfactory as No. I.

These remarks, of course, presuppose that the room is one where the custom of gathering round the fire may be reasonably implied, and in other apartments the position of the fireplace may be governed to some extent by other considerations.

In the specialised dining-room, for instance, the position of the fireplace should allow for ample space between it and the dining-table; and in the bedroom, while it is desirable that the fire should be visible from the bed, it is not necessary that it should bear any special relation to door or window. As, however, the future uses of a room cannot be foreseen, it is well that wherever possible the fireplace should meet the demands of the sitting-room.

The construction of the ingle-nook must take us back to that point in the evolution of the fireplace when the fire had been placed in a recess in the wall, but when that recess was large enough to accommodate not only the fire but those who gathered round it. On the great hearth of stone or brick the burning logs rested, partially supported by the fire-dogs, with their primitive arrangements for cooking, the toothed rack for the spit and the rings for holding pots and pans and the wide oven built in the wall. Cooking in those days had a fine romantic quality, and the hissing of the birds on the spit and the bubbling of the steaming pots added to the homeliness and cheerfulness of the ingle. Those who sat in the wide chimney-corner could, by glancing upwards, see through the swirling smoke a patch of the dark sky, with, perhaps, a star or two. At times, it must be confessed, the wind which howled in the chimney must have driven the smoke into the room, and hail and rain would sometimes fall in miniature fusilades on the fire; and on a cold and stormy night this constant reminder of the external warfare, these occasional glimpses of the moon, pursued by flying clouds, and the expiring kisses of rain upon the fire, kept the occupant of the ingle-nook constantly in touch with the outside world and constantly conscious of the warmth and comfort of his surroundings. Perhaps the sympathetic reader will realise the spirit of romance which belongs to such a picture of “fire and sleet and candle light,” a romance which, now banished from the modern house, we are driven to find in printed books, but which is not so incompatible with the conditions of the modern house as may be supposed.

Science starting out at a tangent, after many improvements and complications, comes back at last to some slight modification of the simplest and earliest methods, and the most recent developments in the modern grate on scientific lines show a return to the ancient custom of the fire on the hearth. In the planning of the modern ingle-nook it is well to consider it not so much a recess in the room in which is another recess for the fire, but rather as an enlargement of the fire recess itself. Modern requirements will insist on a more satisfactory disposal of the smoke than the old type of ingle allowed of, and so there must be a hood over the fire of metal or masonry; and if the fire in the ingle is placed in an inner recess, this should be shallow and wide, and not be too sharply defined in structure or materials from the whole treatment. The spirit of the fire should govern the design of the whole.

It is not desirable that the modern ingle-nook should be very deeply recessed, or the room itself is not satisfactorily heated, and yet the best position for a settle or couch in the room is often at the side of the fire. These conditions suggest that the ingle nook should not be in the centre of one side of room, but placed in the corner with a long seat against the wall on one side, and the other side of the fire left open for movable chairs. Modern ideas of comfort are apt to place the arm-chair before the couch, except for actual reclining, as the former encloses its occupant at the sides, and gives support to the arms. And so the fitting of an ingle, with fixed seats on each side, is not always desirable. Here, as elsewhere in the house, the fixing of furniture to the structure is readily capable of abuse. Where the form of the room and the special conditions suggest fixtures, this principle may well be followed, but pushed to excess it constitutes a tyranny of the designer which may justly annoy the average man who may wish to use his own judgment as to where he shall sit or write.

A necessary qualification of the designer of interiors is a saving sense of humour, which, after all, to a large extent, consists in a fine sense of the fitness of things, and few could occupy one of these little polished and upholstered seats which flank so many modern ingles without being conscious of the absurdity of the situation. As a matter of fact, the average person who indulges in the art ingle does not occupy the seats, and so reserves for them that admiration which is only awarded to those features of the house which claim to be merely ornamental.

In the treatment of the fireplace generally what is mainly required is a greater breadth and simplicity. The little grate surrounded by its scrap of tiling, and wooden mantel, full of niches and shelves, is a formula which may SB well be discarded for something simpler. The grate may be surrounded by a broad space of tiles only, or the brickwork of the chimney breast may be surmounted by a single shelf.

Above all, the fireplace should connect itself with the general treatment of the room, and the wood mantelpiece is at its best when it constitutes an enriched and accentuated portion of the panelling which covers the remaining walls.

Of all the defects in a house, smoky chimneys are, perhaps, the most trying and the most common. In the new house they are most apt to be caused by the coldness and dampness of the flues, and represent a painful initial experience which does much to obliterate the pleasure and comfort of existence in surroundings otherwise harmonious. With a modern contracted grate, designed on scientific principles, the danger of smoke is minimised, but the large, hospitable open fire, however carefully designed, is apt to give trouble at first.

So essential, however, is this type of fireplace to the homeliness and beauty of at least the central hall or houseplace, that it is well worth facing a possibility of some difficulty in this respect, instead of resorting to the inglorious safety of the mean and paltry-looking modern fireplace. Such precaution as circumstances will allow are, of course, taken by contracting the orifice of the flue and by introducing no flat surfaces for the smoke to strike against, and by gathering and curving the flue to prevent down draught; but in some cases where every precaution is taken until the flue becomes thoroughly dried by use there is a tendency to smoke. It is important, in view of this, that fires should be lighted and kept burning during the later stages of the building, so that the flues can be dried and tested before the house is inhabited, and any slight modification that may be required can then be made beforehand. It will often be noticed, for instance, in modern open fires, that a piece of thick glass is fixed across the upper portion of the opening. It is better to fix a piece of metal—brass or copper—in this position, and after a time it will probably be found that this can be removed. The object aimed at is to get the fire as unconfined as possible without smoke. To shut the fire in a small and low recess is to lose that liberal aspect which is so important and to shirk the difficulty of the problem, and the important point is to get whatever nice experimental adjustment done before the house is inhabited, and for this purpose the metal placed across the upper part of the fire is an expedient which does not spoil the appearance and can easily be either removed altogether or raised to the maximum height which the completely aired flue will allow. In special cases where down draught is caused by special winds or local features, a special form of chimney-pot may be required, and of these the Boyle extractors are the most satisfactory.