Power outages may not happen very often, but nothing beats a warm fireplace, especially one that has the marks of Yorkshire’s long and interesting history. These wood burning stoves aren’t the usual inserts you find at the hardware store; they’re time capsules. Picture yourself sitting down with a cup of tea, socks that can handle the Yorkshire drizzle, and the steady pop of seasoned logs. Those flames have history, stories from both old cottages and big halls.
On a cold Saturday morning, you may see sandstone chimneypieces with broken mantels in a market town. Some of them even have children’s initials carved into them from decades before. Here and there, a sooty brick sticks out. Is it strange that something that warms your toes may make you feel nostalgic? Maybe. But that’s how it is in Yorkshire.
But which style do you like best? In farmhouse kitchens, there are worn rustic timbers, granite surrounds with tenacious soot stains, and lean cast iron numbers that appear like they came straight out of a Brontë novel. Some people claim that the Victorian mantels are very elegant, with their flowery tiles and delicate scrollwork. Georgian styles, on the other hand, are plain but robust. They are a little more reserved, like a grandfather who doesn’t want to dance at a wedding but is still present for a firm handshake.
And then there is the drama of modernity colliding with tradition. Recently, someone tried to put a double-sided wood-burner and a higgledy-piggledy stone mantel together in a barn conversion. People at the tavern had different opinions: some cheered the creative energy, while others grumbled about ruining local history. But that’s part of the enjoyment. You can be a purist and look for reused gritstone slabs, or you can be reckless and call a stonemason with a crazy sketch in hand.
It might be like a treasure hunt to shop for a fireplace here. You can find slabs of weathered stone, broken copper, and complex ironwork hidden away in old barns or little storefronts. Prices can change as quickly as the wind in Yorkshire, so be careful. The correct surround can turn a little fireplace into the heart of a room. Don’t use phony logs or plastic ones, though; people who know will just give you dirty looks.
Putting one on isn’t usually a simple story. There are strange things about old structures in Yorkshire. Lintels that are hard to find. Sneaky drafts. A tenacious smell of soot that won’t go away no matter how many times you sweep. But anyone who has felt the warmth of an ember in February will tell you that it was worth all the work.
After all, the best stories are typically told by the fire. If the narrative starts with a Yorkshire fireplace, you’ll probably remember it long after the ashes have cooled.
