Senior

Buckley Rumford Fireplaces
Keith Senior
Cooking Rumford in Ireland

5/20/24
Back in 2015 I bought a set of 20x20 flue tiles etc from you, shipped to Ireland. the chimney is working really well and everyone who sees it is impressed. We don't get that many large fireplaces in Ireland any more.
In the photo the opening is 1.5m x 1.3m and you'll see there is an old cooking crane installed that we use to cook over the open fire.
Griddle bread is a frequent bake but it's great for bacon, steaks and stews of course. I’ll try to take one in the next few days with a fire in the grate.
I look forward to hearing from you shortly. Many thanks.
Keith Senior
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Keith,
Great fireplace. Did you do the stonework? Why did you build the firebox rectangular instead of a more reflective Rumford trapazoidal shape? Is that traditional of the old Irish fireplaces? And what is that tradition? Would a fireplace like this be in a pub? About 1700?
I'm still confused about the damper. The damper on your “Estimate” - a 42” Vestal damper - wouldn’t fit this fireplace with a wider fireback. I still have not heard from the Control Cover top damper manufacturer.
Pleas do send me more pictures with a fire.
Best,
Jim
We had stonemasons build the entire chimney as the house was a complete ruin when we bought it, with no chimney left.
The square fireback is typical of old Irish cottage fireplaces and is necessary to fit the typically large wide crane (1.1m wide). The main difference is that old cottages had a small chimney top opening so the cottages filled with smoke unless the door was left open and that defeats the object of trying to heat the house. But then people huddled round the fire or it was mainly used for cooking.
How times have changed! Thank goodness for your product that allows such a large top opening, which is still a wonder to builders here.
Keith
Besides the larger chimney, the rounded airfoil throat helps the draft- Jim