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