Cornish Range, Taroveor terrace
treeve

Cornish Range, Taroveor terrace

A Cornish Range; before the advent of the Aga or Rayburn. Cast Iron, with wonderful ornate gratings and brass fittings. The fire was on the left, with a projecting ash and cinder catch tray; the flue was taken around the oven. on the right. There were rings on the top that could be opened to get more heat under the pots and kettle; or heating the flat iron; and so it heated the house, as the walls being of two foot thick stone, it held the heat longer, as well as for cooking, baking and hot water. This one was made by Corins workshop and foundry, High Street, Penzance.
Since reading about how flat irons were heated another Cornish Range story has come to mind. I was told that drying their wet leather working boots was a problem some tin miners had when coming home from shift. To dry, the boots were opened up and placed along the hot Range fender in order of seniority. In the early morning the slow, sleepy members of the family might find a hot ember in their boot to help them wake up.

I seem to remember that a hot ember was referred to back then as a ‘cherk’ or ‘chirk’. Any ideas?
 
In the Cornish Dialect dictionary here as Cherks .. cinders. Those fenders were a piece of work with brass on hardwood. :)
 
Thank you Treeve – I couldn’t find the word anywhere and doubted my memory, or spelling.
 
Having just looked at the Ingle Nook photo, it reminded me that I had seen a shot of a Cornish range somewhere on site. My gran had one in Belgravia Street, but as she got older, had a modern gas cooker put in. Again, if I lived somewhere that had one, although I probably wouldn't use it it, I'd certainly clean it up and restore it. A beautiful piece of industrial design - something to be cherished and not just discarded.
 
My gran had a Cornish range in her house in Adelaide Street. She also used a flat iron which was always kept on the grate. I remember the brass fender around the bottom of the range and the knobs on the range where were always kept polished.
 
Never made sense to me. Removing these had to be replaced with a room heating fire, a boiler or take it all to the laundry, a kettle (electric or gas), a water heater (wall mounted), cooker (gas or electric), electric iron, clothes drier. As they used to send the heat into the wall itself it heated the house; use a coal grate and room was cold when morning came. Progress it is called?
 

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