A Step In Time Chimney Sweeps

  While you might think the  history of chimney sweeps  is similar to Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins joyfully singing and dancing as he cleans, not a chapter of chimney sweep history actually looked at all like this. Unlike today, chimney sweeps have not always been highly regarded and even though it’s always been seen as a critical profession, it was not one that was enviable or even safe. Chimney sweeping today looks very different from it has in history but it remains just as important a profession as it was from the very beginning. The History Of Chimney Sweeps Dates Back To The 13th Century The earliest signs of chimneys date back to the 13th century in ancient Rome but it was not until the 16th century that chimneys and fireplaces became a staple of homes, particularly among the wealthy. For a while, it was only the wealthy class that had chimneys in England and would have them installed in every single room and chimney sweeps had the job of keeping them clean. But s...

  Chimneys are a staple of architecture and feel-good winter movies. But where did the structure come from and why was it invented? The Origins Of The Chimney The true origin of chimneys remains unclear to many historians, but it’s thought to be unlikely that chimneys were constructed in Europe before the twelfth century. Chimneys were widely used by the upper classes during Tudor England. Commoners who lacked the funds to construct chimneys would continue to burn fires on a clay or brick base in their homes or dwellings— plagued by intoxicating, smoke-filled rooms. Even when they became widely available, chimneys were still seen as inefficient and oftentimes dangerous. The early seventeenth century found English courts demanding that “dangerous” chimneys be reconstructed of brick and mortar, while requiring that chimney tops be at least four and a half feet above the roofs of houses. By 1719, England ordered that all clay-built chimneys be rebuilt with brick. Meanwhile, in America...