Friday 3 February 2012

Traditional Chimney.

I was looking at our chimney yesterday, and, for no particular reason, I thought I'd show it to you.

This is a traditional local style cap on older chimneys. Made of several, mortar filled, Roman tiles (in our case 15), that lean against each other and are topped to form a ridge.


This stops about 90% of any rainwater entering the chimney.

The stone work on the chimney stack itself is becoming a little tired (after 250-300 years of hard work), so maybe I should think of having it repaired. The 'cap' itself was re-done about 10 years ago, when we had the whole roof relaid.

Posted by Picasa

17 comments:

  1. Much nicer that our metal flues.

    ReplyDelete
  2. looks just like those on 16th and 17th century stone cottages here.
    Nice and solid, even though it may need a little TLC

    ReplyDelete
  3. as soon as I saw that first pic come up on my blog reader list, I thought it was yours. It really says "France" to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't know if similar chimneys exist elsewhere... probably not.

      Delete
  4. The French are really keen on Roman tiles, aren't they? If you do have your stack re-pointed, make sure they use proper lime mortar, then it will last for another 250 years.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a practical arrangement, one I've not noticed anywhere else! I hope that the tiles never lose their balance - there's a lot to come down the chimney there.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lovely home, Mr. M. It truly is France.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. as chimneys go.... that's a doody!

      Delete
    2. and to answer your question... the pig meat will be ready for collection tomorrow... I hope they dont try and give me the heads!

      Delete
    3. Plenty of good meat in the heads, John!

      Delete
  7. 300 years, that's a long time. The stones in the chimney are amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your pictures are like House Hunters International on Home and Garden TV. I wonder if they could sound as contented as you do.

    ReplyDelete
  9. http://www.museumwales.ac.uk/en/rhagor/article/2001/

    If you go around Machynlleth and Dolgellau especially, but Gwynedd in general, you can see chimneys like yours, with the added tiles/stones.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know Dolgellau quite well. I suppose I never thought to look upwards. Thanks gz.

      Delete
  10. They don't make them like they used to. 250 to 300 years is impressive; I'll be lucky if mine lasts 25. However, it won't be my problem then.

    ReplyDelete
  11. It's so good to see these structures, to glimpse life across the mighty pond.

    ReplyDelete

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...