Sergio Gonzalez Jr.
Prof. Philip Wisley
"A Paper on Fireplaces And Cooking Stoves "
It is in the caves of the stone age that the oldest
evidences of fire are found. Archeologists have
found blackened hearths and carbonised bones used for
When man first began building his own home he began
by digging a hole in the ground and covered it to
keep himself warm. With some imagination he decided
not to dig a hole but instead to build walls of the
same material he used for his roof. Man had made its
Camp fire was shared by group. It would be moved (Slide 2)
nearer to the pit or hut. In one cold night he decided
to bring the fire indoors. All the members of the house
began to assemble around the fire.
The first indoor hearth is a shallow pit covered with
stones. It was set in the center of the room away from
the flammable walls. Behind the central hearth there
was a higher stone or raredos ", slightly hollowed (Slide 3)
on one face, forming a fireback. Large stones, put
around the fire to contain it, would in time serve to
support the cooking pots.
In the iron age; huts were again circular or oval.
The hearth was often close to a central post or
" roof tree". Wrought iron andirons to support the (Slide 4)
burning logs have been found on iron age sites. There
may also have been horinzontal iron bars laid between
them to carry the cooking pots, or to serve as spits.
In a house found at welwyn, and considered pre-roman.
The fire burned on a "Brandreth" an iron grate raise
The hearth-men or the men in charge of starting the (Slide 5)
fire or keeping it alive were considered to be the
key men in any household. They usually lived, ate
and slept where the hearth was located. The room was
commonly called the "fire-house". The smoke originated
from the hearth located in the center of the room
escaped through a hole in the roof, between crannies
or thru a wind hole.
Types of Fuel:
The type wood used in a fire is important and also
how the wood was laid. Properly dry wood is good to
enough for any fire; but for a quantity of heat,
selecting the right type of wood is important.
For example, resinous wood do not serve well indoors.
They throw off substantial sparks. Among these resi-
nous woods are larch, birch and jupiter. Alder is one
of the worst fuel woods and ash the best of all because
it will burn dead or alive, wet or dry and with a hot
colorful flame. Applewood also produces a colorful
flame. Cherry wood is also good fire fuel. Cypress
is pleasantly aromatic. Chestnut is good but should
be covered and cured for a year. Oak is very good and
used a lot in Florida mostly from its branches. Plane
and willow give a clear flame without sparks. Poplar
need long drying and does not burn well (mostly used
for matches). Elm also burns bad.
The chimney appeared late in history and it was only
used as an exit for smoke. It began to appear in
England late in the thirdteenth century. In the Norman
Castle the first improvement of the hearth was made.
It was moved from the center of the space to the wall.
In the castle, the upper floors would be formed of the
same thickness of the wall, with openings into great
chambers on one side, and windows -in the other.
To avoid weakening of the walls, no recess was made,
and the hearth was wholly inside the room. This was
still not a true chimney.
The first proper chimney's appeared in England. The
chimney Rose well clear off the roof providing a steady
draught free from down-currents.
The first cottages made of "cruck" construction (all
roof and no wall ) had the hearth at one end and the
chimney free-standing; It was made of wattlee and Daub"
on a timber frame, or stone. Brick was used after the
When the crucks were replaced by the post and beam
construction, the hearth could be near the center of a
side wall, and three sides of the chimney were now indoors.
The house was kept warmer. Sometimes all four sides of
the chimney were indoors making the house warmer still.
In the sixteenth century there is more concern for
interior space. The hearth is moved out into a recess,
its back wall projecting outside and tapering to the
The gothic fireplace with the flattened four-center
arch, carved out of a single piece of stone, the
wainescoating continued over the fireplace is one
of the earliest designs.
In the english renaissance the use of ornamental
strapwork is used. The openings become rectangular.
The fireplace becomes an object of special display.
"Iron chimleys or grates" were common in the six-
teenth century. They were designed only to burn coal.
Other hearths were unsuitable for this new type of
fuel. They were known to be a complete nuisance because
of the excessive amount of smoke it produced.
These early iron chimleys were interesting and coarsely (Slide 12)
designed. One example is seen at The London Charterhouse
built in 1610 for sir Thomas Sutton. You can see on the
slide the elaboration of detail. This monumental chimney-
piece as well as the cast iron grate bear his seal. Since
cinders are now liable to fall on the carpet "The fender"
(an iron grille in front of the coal) became necessary.
The entire piece holding the coal was called the "Hob Grate"
which survived through the nineteenth century.
(Slide 14 )
The decorative treatment of the iron chimley was
reduced as can be seen in this slide of a design
by Inigo Jones for sir George Price. It covered
the entire height of the room.
The problem of extracting useful heat from the
raising vapour before it escaped up the chimney,
had offered many solutions. One of the earliest
was known as "Prince Rupert's Fireplace". The
opening into the flue was very small, and very
low, just above the fire. An iron baffle plate
behind this opening forced the smoke down behind
the fireback before it could rise into the flue.
When first lit, with a cold flue, the fire could
not be expected to draw through this roundabout
passage, so the baffle was hinged, to open directly
into the flue until the fire was going well. This
early invention had its problems. For example it
was never totally free of smoke, users were warned
to use charcoal if possible. A fire door was also
needed to mask the main opening when starting up.
Another invention was M. Dalesme's heating machine
introduced in 1680. It was a totally different kind
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of invention. It was laid with the coal below, the
wood above it and the paper on top. The air entered
from above, and the smoke and fumes were extracted
from below through a downward pipe that then turned
to connect with the fuel. Although it was claimed
that this invention consumed all smoke it was difficult
Benjamin Franklin is one of the many mentioned among
the notably versatile contributors to the art of heating.
In 1745 Franklin's Pennsylvania fireplace was designed
in wood. It tended to smoke with coal, and its ducts to
choke up with soot. As shown on this slide air enters
at B, passes along flue A, then left and right as it
descends through the ducts EE, and emerges into the
room at D. The smoke and vapour go in the direction
of the arrows drawn on the section at right.
He also invented the revolving grate which offered for
the first time, a means of adding fresh fuel below the
fire as opose to refueling from the top having a down-
ward draught. This cylindrical fuel cage rotates. To
refuel, the top bar is removed, fresh coal is added and
the bar replaced and locked.
The cage in then rotated half a turn, reversing the
fire front-to-back and top-to- bottom at the same time.
The fresh coal is now below, its gas is not waisted,
and its smoke is consumed.
Isaac Ware was a chimney boy before he became an (Slide 18)
architect. He favoured the "continued chimney-piece','
in which the composition is continued up into the ceiling.
He proposed that a principal compartment should be raised
over the fireplace to receive a picture, and terminated
by a pediment. He adapted this idea at the chesterfield
house. Some more examples of this idea can be seen in
the following slide.
This part of this report is a condense portion from
the book written by Lawrence Wright. Home fires
burning, published in 1964.
"The evolution of the heating and cooking stove"
The stove as a heating element:
In very early days a heated room was called a stove,
not used for living purposes but rather as a hot house
or drying room. Later the stove was known as an en-
closed fireplace, used for warming rooms and cooking.
In 1821, a stove was defined as a contrivance or appa-
ratus. The principle of the stove is to absorb all the
heat possible from the fire source before it escaped
through the chimney.
The earliest form of a stove was the Roman Hypocaustum (Slide 20)
first used for baths. It was later introduced in homes.
The paved floor was heated by means of fire below it, the
heat being communicated indirectly. As shown in the slide,
a number of columms or arches were built 18" in height.
These supported a pavement formed of tiles about 18 inches
square, each tile being supported at each corner by the
columns, or along two sides when arches were used.
The tiles were fastened together by cement, calculated
to resist fire, and generally covered by mosaics. A fire
was made at one end below the level of the ground, and
this heated the pavement as the flame played beneath a
portion of it. The hot air and smoke passed around and
between the columns before escaping at some point of exit
at the opposite extremity.
The chinese, adopted similar means of giving warmth.
They made the fire outside the building and the hot air
passed along channels below the pavement, or along hollow
benches, and then ascended within hollow walls before
its final escape.
The Greeks and Romans too used portable stoves or braziers
for their homes. A Grecian tripod was used at the time (Slide 21)
of the Greek conception of the origin of fire. Wood was (Slide 22)
used for fuel and burned in the bowl and the smoke was (Slide 23)
allowed to escape through a window or other openings.
The Roman adoption of the Greek method had luxurious
The brazier was also common is Spain and had wheels so
that it could easily be pushed from room to room.
Later rooms were set aside to be used for the winter.
They were decorated with plain cornices and colors
which would not show any soot. It became common to
seclude the kitchen as much as possible from the living
portion of the dwelling.
The chinese classics point at the use of cast iron at (Slide 24)
a very early date. Among these cast iron objects found
in the "han tombs" are well-preserved cast iron cooking
This stove was a rentangular body in the shape of a
horse shoe which rests on four cast legs. It is provided
with a chimney at the rounded end, has five cooking holes,
and a platform in front of the fire-chamber.
Early Stoves in New England:
Enough has been written to know that in houses built
after the first crude shelters stoves were commonly used.
Evidence of a built-in stove of dutch design was found in
Plymouth Massachusetts at the site of the home of 2
Pilgrim John Howland. The house was built in 1638 and
burned between 1676 and 1690. The site was undisturbed
until the family made recent excavations.
The pilgrims lived for twelvee years in Holland before
coming to new England, and they brought with them the
The first stove in the colonies were made of wood, daubed
with mud and elay. In 1629 the first importation of
britkes had arrived they were used to line a few stoves.
Others were used for chimneys and fireplaces.
Stoves were also used by the Dutch Settlers of New York
and the Swedish Settlers in lower Delaware before the
English Settlement of Pennsylvania.
Many of these early stoves cannot be found, Many of
the iron stoves cracked and broke by the heat of the
fire. Many were remelted at the time of the revolution
when scrap was in demand for war pruposes.
Benjamin Franklin also invented a special type of stove. (Slide 3!3)
The first Franklin stove was intended to be set inside
an open fireplace. The oldest known Franklin stove a
modification of the original made in 1750 is in the bucks
county historical museum at Doylestown Pennsylvania.
James Sharp's estaloguee of stoves made on the Franklin (Slide 26)
principle, gave full credit for the invention to Benjamin (Slide 21)
Franklin. These stoves were produced during th 1760's-
In this slide we can see a stove of the late 18th century.(Slide 28)
It shows the opening typical of the time. It had the
appearance and advantages of a fireplace, but it did not
have the smoke.
Many stoves~ of similar design were 'cast in iron as
in the Franklin stoves. They were cheap and easier
Here we see another Franklin stove,the top rail, brass
rosettes and knobs give it elegance. Is was purchased
The stove in this slide represents one of the earliest
of the wilson patents. Thirteen stars surround the
.eangle~ which represented the number of the state in the
union. The Dunce-cap dome, which added a great deal of
This early stove of 1818-20
office in Wo~rcester, Mass.
was for years in a law
Seventeen stars surround the eagle with spread wings in
this stove. The heating dome is omitted.
In this slide we can see a simple Franklin stove in
This stove is very rare, it shows the last super done
in iron. Of the 1850.
A 1704 a czechoslovakian heating stove seized by the
Germans in 1939.
A yellow porcelain stove of the Lovis xv period.
A white porcelain stove from the Bavarian Royal castle
Stoves used for heating and cooking:
The box stove is an apparatus made in the form of a box. (Slide 37)
The earliest were Jamb stoves, cast iron boxes with five
sides, whose open end fitted into a hole in the wall.
Box stoves of the 19th century were made more accurately
and the plates fitted together very well.
But later in the 19th century a new type of stove was
invented. Two vertical flues instead of one connected
by a horinzontal member from which a pipe led to the
chimney. They were advertised as two columm stoves.
One of the big selling points of a box stove was the
economy of fuel. Another feature of the two-colunm
stoves was that they were made with doors which could
be open after the fire started and gave the appearance
of a fireplace.
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The stove as a cooking element:
Parlor Cook Stoves:
The box stove became eventually a cook stove and Henry
Miller in Warcester advertised it in 1845. He placed
two boiling holes in front of the columms and made it
wider. It looked like a rural letter box and cakes,
pies and other dishes in small quantity could be baked.
The parlor cook stove idea became so popular that very
elaborate designs were made in their decorations.
In this slide we can see a parlor cook stove in the
These stove were in use for some time and were invented
by Jordan L. Nott of New York in 1833. They were large
at the base and tapering at the top. Mott found that
the stove presenting the greatest quantity of surface
gave the greatest quantity of heat.
Example of Dr. Nott's pyramid stove.
The air-tight stoves:
Invented in 1L836 by Isaac Orr of Washington D.C. wP;:asi:ohe;~- (Slide 44)
s i derdl:rqul~~e: tewar: adv~and~seis l istd~v~e .des ign .
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It had no seams to smoke and it burned almost everything
but coal. It was oval in shape varying from 24 to 36
inches. It had a door on a end a large opening in the
top which a big chunk of wood could be slipped.
Soapstone was used for making stoves as early as 1797.
From quarry discovered in 1790 by Daniel Fuller. The
stove from the quarry was cut up for foot stoves.
Soapstone stoves had the advantaged that once warmed
they hold the heat all night long, and the house would
be comfortable in the morning.
The word Range is a very old word referring to any
row of cooking fixtures. It may have also come from
the "Ranging Bars" which were sloping iron bars with
crooks (hangers) to hold the spits (cooking utensiles).
One of the earliest cooking inventions or range was
produced by Benjamin Thomson, better known as Count
Rumford, in 1798.
His system was based on the idea of not producing the
heat until it was needed and not to produce it in excess.
(Fuel in those days was very expensive and it had to be
conserved) He also insulated the fuel and to use it
before it could lost.
His invention was considered different, modern and effi- (Slide 47)
cient. A lot of brick was used in the construction and it
had a flat top with a large number of holes used to fit
the cooking utensiles. Below each utensiles there was
an individual fire or grate and a door to regulate the air.
From each little fire, a flue ran around the utensil before
going to the main flue exit. Two roasted ovens were heated
by a separate fire, and a hot-water boiler by the nearest
fire in use.
His kitchens were usually designed in U-shaped to make it
simple to work around it.
In 1840 an new range was invented called the Brown's
apparatus. It had a border heated by a flue and the
cooking side was at the side furthest from the fire.
In 1842 the Sylvester's range came out. In this range
only one side of the boiler is exposed to the fire. The
bottom of the oven is open to the bottom of the fire.
In 1846 Harrison's economical derby range is convertible (Slide 50)
into a close-stove, a semi-close stove or an open fireplace.
Typical open fire range 1850.
A kitchen of 1850
An insulated kitchen of 1869
The above ranges or cooking apparatus were being developed
In America the ranges being invented, were more compact
and easy to transport.
The first cooking stove began to appear in 1847. We
begin to see standard kitchen units. They were movable,
on legs, with the oven above and very decorative.
The portable cooker 1914
The range and grilling stove 1892.
1. Early stone age man-from rumford fireplaces-cover
2. The taming of fire-home fires burning-page 4
3. Raredos H.P.B.-page 6
4. Kelto Roman fire dog- H.P.B. page 7
5. The hearth-men H.P.B. page 48
6. The norman castle H.F.B. page 21
7. Chimneys H.F.B. page 25
8. Londond chimney's H.P.B. page 75
9. A "Cruck Cottage" H.P.B. page 38
10. Gothic fireplace H.F.B. page 59
1. The drawing room, Boston house H.F.B. page 61
12. A coal merchants fireplace H.P.B. page 68
13. Chimney piece H.P.B. page 70
14. Pince Rupert's Fireplace H.P.B. page 33
15. Dalesme's heating machine H.P.B. page 85
16. Franklin's fireplace H.P.B. page 88
17. Franklin's revolving grate H.F.B. page 89
18. Chimney piece H.F.B. page 95
19. 18th. century tile stove fire on the hearth page 1
20. Roman hypocaustum F.O.H. page 26
21. Braziers F.O.H. page 27
22. Braziers 14th and 15th centuries H.P.B. page 30
23. Curtew used to conserve hot embers home fires burning page 18
24. Chinese stove F.O.A. page 30
25. Oldest Franklin stove Fire on the Hearth page 42
26. Franklin stove F.O.H. page 43
27. Franklin stove F.O.H. page 46
28. 18th. century fireplace F.O.H. page 47
29. Wilson stove F.O.H. page 50
30. Stove of 1820 F.O.H. page 51
31. Early stove fire on the hearth page 52
32. Frankling stove F.O.H. page 55
33. Rare stove with last supper F.O.H. page 62
34. Czechoslovakian stove 1704 F.O.H. page 78
35. Yellow porcelain stove F.O.H. page 80
36. White porcelain stove F.O.H. page 81
37. Box stove F.O.H. page 90
38. The four-o-clock stove F.O.H. page 106
39. Two column stove F.O.H. page 117
40. Parlor cook stove F.O.H. page 122
41. Parlor cook stove -P.O.H. page 124
42. Pyramid stove F.O.H. page 127
43. Pyramid stove -F.O.H. page 128
44. Air-tight-stove F.O.H. page 145
45. Soapstone stove F.O.H. page 160
46. Soapstone stove -F.0.H. page 161
47. Rumfords cooker Home fires burning page 115
48. Brwn's apparatus H.P.B. page 122
49. Sylvester's apparatus H.P.B. page 123
50. Harrison's apparatus H.F.B. page 125
51. Ranges H.F.B. page 126
52. American cooking stove H.P.B. page 128
53. Portable cooker H.P.B. page 132
54. Range and Grilling stove H.P.B page 134