Here is a salutary tale from Thaxted this week about the need to have a chimney regularly swept – A barn conversion caught fire and lost most of its roof when soot deposits in the chimney caught fire and spread to the loft space. The soot had apparently collected in the top part of the chimney as the chimney had not been swept for some time. People don’t realise that if a chimney catches fire and the have not had it swept annually by a reputable trades person and they therefore have not been issued with an annual Safety Certificate, then the insurance company is unlikely to pay out for any damage caused.

Essex Fire Brigade report:

Firefighters are reminding residents to check and clean their chimneys regularly after a fire caused significant damage to a timber-framed home in Thaxted this evening (Wednesday 11 December).

Crews from Thaxted, Saffron Walden, Newport and Braintree, along with an Aerial Ladder Platform from Chelmsford, were called to the property at 5:20pm after the homeowners noticed part of the interior wall had collapsed, revealing a fire inside the chimney.

The fire, which was caused by a build up of soot and debris in the chimney, quickly spread through the loft space and roof due to the timber-framed structure of the house.

Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus worked to tackle the fire from inside the home, while crews on the Aerial Ladder Platform extinguished the flames from above. Thanks to their efforts, they successfully contained the fire and prevented further spread.

Station Manager Kev Jenner said:
“Our crews worked incredibly hard in challenging conditions to stop the fire from spreading further through the property. Thankfully, the family escaped without injury, but the roof has been significantly damaged, and there is smoke and water damage throughout the home.

“This incident highlights the importance of regularly maintaining and cleaning your chimney, especially in older, timber-framed properties, where fire can spread rapidly.”

The fire was fully extinguished by 8:15pm, but crews will remain at the scene into the night to monitor for hotspots and make sure the area is safe.

Chimney Safety Advice

To reduce the risk of chimney fires, follow these tips:

• Have your chimney swept at least once a year, or more frequently if you burn wood.
• Avoid burning resinous woods; use only suitable seasoned timber in solid fuel stoves.
• Do not stack fires too high and allow them to burn down well before you go to bed.
• Use a fire or spark guard to prevent embers from escaping.
• Inspect your chimney regularly—particularly in the roof space—to check for cracks or broken bricks.

For more safety tips, visit essex-fire.gov.uk/chimney.

This week we were again sweeping for the Bishop of Chelmsford and we were quite some way from home, sweeping the Vicarage at Elm Road Leytonstone and All Saints Rectory at Purleigh near Maldon. All Saints Church at Purleigh is a beautiful medieval church with striking decorative napped flint work in its imposing tower. The tower is made more imposing for the fact that it and the small village sit on top of what is a tall hill for Essex!

The church was built in the 14th century from ragstone, septaria, rubble, flint and brick. Although there was a major restoration in 1892 the chancel remains 14th century as does the stained glass in the heads of the chancel. The incumbents of Purleigh Church go back as far as 1220 when William De London was Rector. The main fabric of the church was thoroughly restored in 1892, and the tower more recently (In 1914 with American money), in the latter work being in memory of Lawrence Washington, once Rector of this parish (1633 -43) and an ancestor of the famous General George Washington.

In the churchyard there is a memorial to murdered policeman Sergeant Eves – Acting Sergeant 63 Adam Eves was posted to Purleigh in January 1891 where he lived in a cottage with his wife Elizabeth. He was popular with his residents although of course he made a number of enemies amongst the criminal classes and had been threatened with violence often in the course of his duties. Sergeant Eves was on night patrol on Saturday 15 April 1893 after which he failed to return home. During the afternoon of the following day his body was discovered in a ditch at nearby Hazeleigh Hall Farm. His body was badly mutilated, and his throat had been slashed. While Detectives investigated the murder of Sergeant Eves other Officers were investigating the theft of 13 bushels of corn from a nearby barn. Enquiries took police to the home of a local petty criminals, Richard and John Davis. There they found a handcart which contained traces of blood and corn. Three further sacks of corn were found in their garden. Charles Sales and John Batemen who were friends of the Davis brothers were also arrested. Clothes from Sales, Batemen and Richard Davis were all found to be stained with blood. Further arrests of James Ramsey and his son John were made shortly afterwards.

John and Richard Davis, Charles Sales and James Ramsey stood trial at the Assize Court at Chelmsford on 3 August 1893. James Ramsey was acquitted but John and Richard Davis were found guilty and sentenced to death by the Judge. The death sentence for Richard Davis was commuted to life imprisonment but his brother was hanged. Before his death John Davis confessed to the murder saying that Richard Davis, James Ramsey and himself were stealing the corn when surprised by Sergeant Eves. Ramsey knocked Sergeant Eves to the ground and cut his throat with a knife. Using this evidence Ramsey was arrested for theft of the corn and convicted. During the trial he implicated himself in the murder. The jury found him guilty without leaving the jury box and the Judge gave Ramsey 14 years penal servitude. The widow of Sergeant Eves received £15 per year pension which was the highest pension possible.

I had to include this stove in my weekly blog, not because it is anything unusual to look at, but because I had not come across one of these before. This is despite seeping many, many Charnwood Stoves. This is the Charnwood Cranmore 3 Wood-Burning Stove. I think Charnwood must be one of the most popular brands of stoves in the country. After doing a quick bit of research on the web I discovered the reason that I had not seen this Charnwood model before, it is because it is a brand-new stove model.

Charnwood’s website tells us that: Charnwood is delighted to announce the release of two fantastic new stoves, The Cranmore 3 & The C-Five Duo. They add to our existing range of exceptional British-made wood & multi-fuel stoves that caters to all living environments from tiny homes to country residences, townhouses and more. Charnwood is delighted to announce the release of two fantastic new stoves, The Cranmore 3 & The C-Five Duo. They add to our existing range of exceptional British-made wood & multi-fuel stoves that caters to all living environments from tiny homes to country residences, townhouses and more.

Charnwood Stoves

Bishops Way,

NewportIsle of Wight

PO30 5WS

T: 01983 537777

Technical : 01983 537799

https://www.charnwood.com/

I thought for this week’s blog I would write another one about us working. On this occasion I have chosen one of our regular biannual jobs at a thatched cottage in Radwinter. Here we are sweeping a Stovax Stockton boiler stove. By their very nature and construction, boiler stoves have a tendency to tick-over and therefore create a large quantity of crusty tar in the chimney – A job for rotary power sweeping. Rotary power sweeping being the most effective sweeping method for removing resistant tar from the chimney.

Power or rotary sweeping relies on the use of a drill to turn rod that click or button lock together and which turn very quickly – A variety of different sweeping heads can be used with power rods, including various nylon stranded heads, various metal cable/strands, brushes or even chains for cleaning tarry terracotta liners. Power sweeping is very effective for cleaning stubborn tar deposits, chimneys with tight turns, or stripping out bird’s nests. However, it should not be used on chimneys made of old soft red brick, old clay pargeted chimneys or brick chimneys that are in a poor state of repair, as it is far too vigorous a method of sweeping and would cause damage to the chimney. This said many sweeps that are out there in your area are only equipped and trained to use the power sweeping technique. Clearly, by definition such sweeps are not the real deal and are not equipped or trained to deal properly with everything that is out there – In my view all sweeps should be properly accredited and there should be a requirement for them have passed the NVQ and be on a list of nationally accredited sweeps.

I just had to include this job in my weekly blog after sweeping this Aga Little Wenlock multi-fuel stove at an address in Nosterfield End recently. This is actually an address that I have been sweeping annually for a number of years now and usually I don’t see anything like the quantity of combustion deposits coming out of the chimney as I did on this occasion. As you can see from the photograph the material swept out of the chimney nearly filled the firebox. These combustion deposits were as you can see largely comprised of crunchy, smelly tar/creosote. I questioned the customer about his current burning practices, and it transpired that he had switched from burning smokeless fuel to exclusively just burning wood. I suspect that some of this wood was probably not completely seasoned, and the stove has been burnt with not enough oxygen going into it. It just shows how such changes can radically alter what builds up in the chimney. In this instance these deposits would have presented a real risk of a chimney fire if they had not been swept out of the chimney. The customer is now going to start burning some smokeless fuel again, and switch to biannual sweeping – A very sensible move I think.

Here we are again sweeping for the Bishop of Chelmsford and we are quite some way from home, sweeping the Rectory at Rawreth. The rectory itself is a modern 1960’s house with a lined chimney. It was nice and easy to sweep with brush and rods, and not particularly dirty, so it allowed us a little time to look at the church which was just over the road.

This is an interesting church, because it was substantially rebuilt and refurnished in the early 1880s to the designs of Father Ernest Geldart who we have met before at a number of Essex churches, but most notably at the one where he was rector for many years, Little Braxted. The tower was retained along with the arcades. All the furnishings were designed by Geldart, and even the stained glass and mosaics, which were made for him as usual by the firm of Cox, Sons & Buckley.

Geldart is interesting because he used medieval forms more commonly found in non-ecclesiastical buildings to create worship spaces for extremely high Anglo-Catholic liturgy. That tradition has gone here now, but the fixtures and fittings survive – just. A few years after Geldart’s restoration the earthquake caused considerable damage, and then there was blast damage in WWII. There was a massive restoration 1986-90 which cost £75,000, but already the south chancel wall is collapsing, and the floor of the sanctuary breaking up, all the tiles coming loose. It is hard to see how they will rescue it. There are murmurings of redundancy, but I suspect that it simply isn’t a significant enough church for the CCT to take it on. Thoughts provoked, we left the narrow band of countryside and, re-entering urban sprawl, came to Wickford.

I sweep a significant number of Parkray Multi-Fuel room heaters, particularly when we are working for Eastlight Community Homes around the Braintree area. In those instances, the Parkrays all look like the traditional model versions of this classic design. The only thing that differentiates these different models of Parkray are the configuration of their baffle plates, and how they fit into the appliance – Some slide in and out, whilst others are on hined brackets and drop down from the front into the stove. However, the other day I came across this unusual Parkray Multi-Fuel Insert Stove at an address in Bardfield Saling. As you can see from the photograph, this appliance is markedly different than the classic Parkray design. This room heater has a much more contemporary design, with clean straight lines and coming in black. Something just a little bit different from Parkray.

Parkray are now part of the Hunter group of stove manufactures. Hunter Stoves were founded in the West Country in 1970 and now manufacture their stoves at a site near Exeter. Hunter bought the Parkray company in 2003 and absorbed the brand into its product range. In 2008 Hunter Stoves bought a site a Camelford in Cornwall as a research and development department, but they now produce some stoves there as well. In 2015 the company rebranded as the Hunter Stoves Group and now produce such brands as; Herald, HS Gas, Di Lusso, Avalon, Cleanburn, Eco-ideal and Parkray.

Hunter Stoves Limited
8 Emperor Way, Exeter Business Park, Exeter, EX1 3QS

https://hunterstoves.co.uk/

Here is a very functional and business like looking stove and not a model of Capital stoves that I have come across before, although I do sweep quite a few of the other Capital models, the Capital Qube in particular. I tend to see more of these Capital stoves in and around Bishops Stortford and into Hertfordshire, so I’m thinking that there is an installer in that area that sells and installs Capital stoves, as I don’t tend to see them much in other parts of the area we cover. Business like this stove is according to the customer who told me that it was very efficient and that he was very pleased with its performance – He said that it heats the room very well even on the coldest of days.

Capital Stoves are located in Henlow Bedfordshire where they have a showroom. They produce a number of other freestanding stove models as well as the Bassington, these include the Avebury, the Ashbrook, the Panamera, the Qube, the Holsworthy, the ridgmont, the Savona, the Scene, the Viga Edge, the Sigma, the Verena and the Woodrow 4 & 5. They also produce the Ashbrook, and the Savona in cassette versions.

Capitals marketing information tells us that: Capital Fireplaces was established over 30 years ago to manufacture and supply high quality, elegant and affordable fireplaces crafted from natural materials. Since then the company has expanded and developed to become one of the leading UK trade suppliers of fireplaces, fires and stoves. Our manufacturing and fabrication facilities are strategically located to utilise both the most advanced manufacturing technology available and the highest quality skills. Established long term relationships with quarries and foundries with highly efficient fabricators coupled with the unique experience and skills of the stone masons employed provide the backbone for the stringent quality and manufacturing standards we can achieve with our collection.

Capital Fireplace Studio, Unit 1a, Henlow Trading Estate, Henlow, Bedfordshire, SG16 6DS

T: 01462 813138

E: marketing@capitalfireplaces.co.uk

https://www.capitalfireplaces.co.uk/showroom/

Here is a real oddity, I recently came across this stove in Radwinter and really didn’t know what to make of it, I’ve never seen one quite like it before. I don’t know if any of the readers of this blog have seen a stove like this one before and might know what the make and model is? The customer told me that it is a Norwegian make of stove, but it is so long since he bought it and had it installed, he could not remember the name of the make and model and no longer has any paperwork for it. He did say that they have lived in their property for a very long time and that the stove was installed many, many years ago. The only stove manufacturers that I know that are Norwegian are; Jotul, Nordpeise, Kernow and Rais, none of which make a stove that looks like this one and it is difficult to find out if they ever did. On the plus side the customer says that the stove works exceedingly well and that when it is burning, it heats the whole of the downstairs of the house. Excellent!

To my mind it looks a bit space age, like a battle drone ready for combat on a planet at the outer rim of the universe! What do you think it reminds you of?

I recently came across this Antique Gardeco Amblecote Wood-Burning Stove at an address in Great Thurlow. To be honest I was a little perplexed as I could not decide whether this stove is truly an antique stove or whether it is a copy of an antique stove. It is very difficult looking at the stove to decide whether it is really old or whether with the traditional, ornate design it is just made to look old. The customer reported that although the stove is old fashioned and only has a small firebox, it does throw out a large amount of heat when it is in operation – He is therefore very pleased with the operation of the stove.

I did try to find out a bit about Gardeco as a stove manufacturer by doing a Google search, but unfortunately I found out very little. I did find a number of Gardeco Amblecote Wood-Burning Stoves for sale and images of the same stove on pinterest. There is a webste for a company of the same name, Gardeco based in that makes fire pits and chimeneas, so presumably this is the same company that makes the stoves? They are based in Kidderminster in the Midlands – https://www.gardeco.co.uk/ticket.php