Swept away by chimneys!
they have been part of British architecture for centuries. First, chimneys were on castles, then on country piles, and from the 17th century on ordinary homes. The Railway Children famously lived in a house affectionately named the Three Chimneys.
In what enthusiasts call their golden period — the Victorian era — chimneys had different heights and variously shaped stacks to personalise homes within terraces of otherwise identical houses. These days homes have more individual designs, but an affinity to chimneys hasn’t waned.
Indeed, they’ve become a must-have requirement for many buyers.
‘They might have been created to lift smoke from fires into the air, but chimneys are now a status symbol,’ says Simon Bailey, a Wiltshire buying agent specialising in locating period homes for clients.
On the vast majority of houses built before the Fifties you can see the ‘classic’ brick stack: this is typically 3ft tall, about 1ft square with a 7 inch pot for the flue.
On larger houses, the chimney is much bigger, perhaps made of stone, and often situated at one end of the building because of the size and location of the fireplace.
In more recent decades, small ‘flue terminals’ — those sterile looking footlong steel stacks — have become common.
They lack the romantic charm of older chimneys, but show that the flues have been lined — making them safer.
‘The first choice for many buyers is an original brick chimney, a sign there are real open fires within the house. This attracts a premium,’ says Bailey.
Why are we so fond of these old-school features? One reason is that real fires are sought after.
‘ I’m relocating from London to a house in the West Country. An open fireplace and a chimney are top of my must-have list because they represent a different lifestyle,’ says teacher Margaret Smallwood, who is selling her flat in ealing.
James Greenwood, head of Stacks Property Search, says it’s now common for fireplaces or chimneys to be specified on purchasers’ must-have lists. ‘We have an American buyer who will not even view a property unless it has an original period inglenook fireplace,’ says Greenwood. Open fires can also be green. There is now environmentally friendly coal — ecoal, produced from 50 per cent renewable materials — which creates less carbon dioxide and smoke and is appro - priate for some smoke control zones. eco-friendly heat logs made solely from waste timber can also be used for open fires. If, instead of an open fire, you’re using a wood burner or stove, you can choose a new model with lower emissions. The Stove Industry Alliance, a trade group, says an open fire typically takes 16 logs to create four kilowatts of heat lasting five hours. By contrast, a new eco- designed stove would take just five logs. even if a chimney has been covered (this was a trend in the eighties and Nineties to block up old fireplaces with plasterboard) it can be resuscitated.
‘Buyers always prefer to open up boarded chimneys to gain atmosphere, warmth and cosiness,’ says James Shaw, of Prime Purchase, part of Savills estate agency.
Bringing a chimney back to life isn’t a DIy job, however: get an expert to inspect and clear it. There’s an approved list of companies at hetas.co.uk.
The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, is seeking new powers to control wood burners in areas of the capital with high pollution levels. No details have yet been released, but if restrictions do come in, they are likely to apply to the types of fuel that can be burned.
Check what sort of fire and fuel are legal in your area. your council website will give details, or see gov. uk/smoke-control-area-rules.
Then make sure you have a chimney that the neighbours will admire.