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Chimneys were known in Roman times, but they were seldom found in Medieval houses. Castles, with towers of many floors, did have chimneys as the only sensible means of chanelling the smoke out of rooms but it was not until Tudor times, with a revolution in domestic building design, that they became an essential feature of ordinary homes. |
Chateau de Saumur (Tres Riches |
Although some houses in the Middle Ages may have had upper floors at one or both ends, the centre of the house (and in many cases the only room) was always a hall, with an open central hearth, the smoke rising freely to the roof beams, where it would find its way out through openings under the eaves or through the thatch (an effective pest control).
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 By Tudor times, chimneys were being installed in older houses that had previously managed without. Surviving blackened roof timbers, now hidden in lofts but once exposed to smoke, show where this has happened. |
| Chimneys came into common use for a number of reasons. Sea-coal began to replace wood as the most common fuel and coal smoke was unpleasant to live with, so it needed to be channelled away. |
Houses were more frequently built on two floors, the open halls being boarded over, as well as being partitioned into more rooms. Brick came into common use and this ideal material made chimneys possible even in houses built of wood. Chimneys remained a symbol of prestige and affluence for some time. Anyone who could afford to have several wanted everyone to know about it, and the chimney was often the dominant feature of the house. |
Coniston Old Hall |
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Chimneys could be incorporated into the exterior walls of stone houses with no difficulty. Timber-framed houses needed a separate chimney stack built of brick. Lower Brickhampton |
A common arrangement for timber-framed houses built after chimneys had come into fashion was to build a massive brick chimney stack, with several flus, in the middle of the house, leaving a narrow entrance passage at the front into which the front door would open. A staircase could occupy the space at the rear of the stack. Pendean Farm House (Weald and Downland Museum) |
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In areas of the West and Wales where hard stone was
the common building material, round chimneys were built, so that
the stone did not need to be shaped to form corners.
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Brick was far more flexible. It could make neat corners and it could be carved, curved and shaped. Multiple chimneys, square, round, octagonal or spiral, offered ideal opportunities for flamboyant display.
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