Fantastic Fireplaces – Feature Fridays

January 08 2021 | Castle History

Fantastic Fireplaces is the theme for #FeatureFridays with Historic Houses.

Hever Castle has some fantastic fireplaces, many of which are used during the colder months to offer a warm and cosy welcome to visitors.

The fireplaces in the west wing are all original, though many of the surrounds have been augmented over the centuries, especially the one in the Great Hall, which would have been much plainer. It now features the Boleyn coat of arms and was designed by William Silver Frith.

This fireplace can be seen in the painting below – ‘The Yule Log’ by Robert Hillingford, 1861 and a photo from 1900.

While former tenant Captain Sebright did add to the height of the fireplace surround the original Tudor surround is still intact.

The Inner Hall fireplace, as well as the windows above, is an addition by owner William Waldorf Astor but in its place once stood two massive fireplaces that took up the entire wall.

By the 1860’s the north wall of the kitchen was dangerously unstable due to the large Tudor chimney stacks added in the 16th century; and by sometime in the 1880’s the wall had come down destroying the original fireplaces.

A photo of the rear of the castle, printed as a postcard in 1910, but taken in the 1890’s, shows the rebuilt corner with the anchor plates needed to strengthen the wall.

The fireplace in the Council Chamber is original to the 14th century, with only a slight replacement of stone on the surround.

If you enjoyed this item on Fantastic Fireplaces why not discover the previous #FeatureFridays news items:

Games and pastimes
Clocks, sundials and bells
Stained glass
Weddings and betrothals
Herb gardens
Armour and costumes
Musical instruments
Mazes
Secret passageways
Bedrooms
American Connections
Weapons
Follies
Priest Holes
Orchards