🛠️ Invention or technique

Wall fireplace with hood and flue

Chimenea mural con campana y conducto de humos

Date
c. century XII · confidence low
Place
Rochester Castle, Kent, United Kingdom
Credited to
Castle builders of western Europe
Field
Tools

⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.

What it is

A hearth set into a wall with a hood and a flue taking smoke out through the roof. It allowed upper rooms to be heated without the smoke of a central fire in the middle of the hall.

The first flued chimneys in Europe are cited in the 11th and 12th centuries (England, France, Italy); there is no single point of origin and the castle cited is an example.

What it led to

  • private rooms and multi-storey castles and houses
  • the chimney sweep's trade and decorated chimney architecture
  • stoves and hearths of the modern age, such as Franklin's
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Sources✓ verified 2026-11-06