One inglenook fireplace of the mid 18th Century, one mutilated moulded oak fireplace of the late 16th Century (23) and, more frequently, fireplaces with straight or curved timber bressumers supported on dressed stone jambs of the 17th and 18th centuries have been encountered. But again, like the houses themselves, stone fireplaces are the norm from the early 17th Century right through to the 19th Century. Many of these are moulded (24) and most of them have been fitted with iron grates or ranges of a later date (25).
23. A moulded oak fireplace surround with mantelpiece of the late 16th
Century. The head of the surround was originally arched but was subsequently
“squared-off”. The jambs are of stone
24. A corner bolection moulded stone fireplace surround of about 1700
fitted with a late 19th Century iron grate
25. A late 18th-early 19th Century cooking range in a depressed four-centred
arched and chamfered stone fireplace surround
The four-centred arch for the heads of doors and fireplaces (26) is of late medieval origin and continued until the revival of classical forms largely in the 18th Century. But, as pointed out by Parker (1989, p. 21), it gradually took on a more and more depressed form until by the mid 16th Century the sides became straight and only preserving the arch at the angle where the lintel meets the jamb. It is this debased form of the arch which was most commonly encountered in the survey.
26. Construction of the four-centred and depressed four-centred arches
