I came across this very unusual stove in the vicarage at West Mersea on Mersea Island, whilst sweeping for the Bishop of Chelmsford. I can with all honesty say that I have never come across a stove quite like it before, it certainly is most unusual and a real rarity. Like a combination stove, the stove can be operated in two ways, firstly with the doors closed like a traditional wood stove, however as there is no glass in the doors you would not be able to see the fire. Secondly, so you could see the fire, you can operate the stove with the doors open, and there is an unusual heat resistant glass screen the can be brought down in front of the firebox so that material can not spit out of the stove whilst it is in operation.

My first impression looking at the stove, from its French sounding name and the attractive Fleur-De-Lillies embossed on the doors that the stove is French in manufacture. A Google search only revealed numerous antique Deville Charleville Wood-Burning Stoves for sale – But it did seem to confirm that they were a French Stove manufacturer who were producing stoves in the 1920’s and 1930’s, up to the start of the Second World War.