Mantlepiece

The fireplace mantel or mantelpiece, also known as a chimneypiece, originated in medieval times as a hood that projected over a fire grate to catch the smoke. The term has evolved to include the decorative framework around the fireplace, and can include elaborate designs extending to the ceiling. Mantelpiece is now the general term for the jambs, mantel shelf, and external accessories of a fireplace. For many centuries, the chimneypiece was the most ornamental and most artistic feature of a room, but as fireplaces have become smaller, and modern methods of heating have been introduced, its artistic as well as its practical significance has lessened.

Up to the twelfth century, fires were simply made in the middle of a home by a hypocaust, or with braziers, or by fires on the hearth with smoke vented out through the lantern in the roof. As time went on, the placement of fireplaces moved to the wall, incorporating chimneys to vent the smoke. This permitted the design of a very elaborate, rich, architectural focal point for a grand room.

At a later date, in consequence of the greater width of the fireplace, flat or segmental arches were thrown across and constructed with archivolt, sometimes joggled, with the thrust of the arch being resisted by bars of iron at the back.

In domestic work of the fourteenth century, the chimneypiece was greatly increased in order to allow of the members of the family sitting on either side of the fire on the hearth, and in these cases great beams of timber were employed to carry the hood; in such cases the fireplace was so deeply recessed as to become externally an important architectural feature, as at Haddon Hall. The largest chimneypiece existing is in the great hall of the Palais des Comtes at Poitiers, which is nearly 30 feet (9.1 m) wide, having two intermediate supports to carry the hood; the stone flues are carried up between the tracery of an immense window above.

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