Chimney work

This was the chimney before work began. The brickwork was shot and the flue below had collapsed.

The chimney was taken down and supprted on lintels. Here is the outside with the chimney down - the blockwork below has been reinstated.

The lintels that support the new chimney...

The lintels sit on pads which in turn sit on the original house wall. This wall is actually very solid.

And then, the chimney was rebuild using original bricks that were recovered from an internal part of the flue. These are original Victorian hand-made bricks.

A tidy job.

With the chimney supported, work could begin on removing the collapsed flue.

The stone and bricks were removed from the upstairs first and then the back wall was dropped a bit to reveal the stud wall of the bit we are living in - this is the wall on the stairs in the new section.

Removal of the fireplace downstairs could then begin. Starting at the left (with the help of John) and the right - my side.

You can see the line of the original chimney - the newer construction can straight out - you can see the outline in the roof in the above pic. The original came out in a curve. The original horse-hair plaster is the pale patch in the upper third of the pic.

The next picture is looking down from the room above.

Bricks and stone were removed from above the large concrete lintel. Again, you can see the curve of the original fireplace.

And here

The bread oven is still intact

and we are keeping the brick flue above.

The next task is to remove the large concrete lintel and take out the remaining stonework and bricks.